Whirlwind
by Kurt1K
Summary: War comes-a-knockin'. Quistis and Xu answer the door. In chapter 6, Ma Dincht's boy enters the fray... sort of.
1. Incursion

Author's note: Only been a year since my last update… oh, what can I say? I suck.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I own nothing of this other than the plot (such as it is); I'm riding on Squaresoft's coat-tails hoping to go unnoticed.

* * *

_**WHIRLWIND**_

Chapter 1: _Incursion

* * *

_

They came by night, shrouded by science, darkness and the rumblings of an unquiet sky. Wings born of high technology bore them safe through the storming night towards their target, a vast humped shadow like some slumbering monster. Silently, gracefully, they slipped through its invisible shroud of protective electronics to alight on its shell, gatherings of fleas unnoticed on the back of a great tortoise.

No fleas these, though. A strobing flash of lightning illuminated them for an instant, a frozen tableau of lethal high technology from their close-fitting smartsuits to the sleek, deadly forms of the assault carbines slung at their sides. They moved swiftly, efficiently, following procedures practiced until they were second nature. The gliders were secured and stowed, weapons checked, climbing rigs readied. Not a word was spoken as they separated into twos and threes, a routine drilled into them over months of preparation.

At the center of the activity their leader – known even to his own team only by his callsign, Saber One - watched them with a critical eye and a touch of pride, for he had undertaken their training. He had judged them ready almost a month before, and since that time they had waited for the opportunity this storm had given them. Watching them work now he knew he had been right, and was glad of it; their objective was the ultimate hard target, and they were heavily outnumbered. They would need to be at their best.

_And we are_, he thought with satisfaction. One by one the teams departed to their assignments; he and Alpha team were the last to set out, ascending the steep curve of the hull towards their first target.

As he climbed Saber One's mind was racing, processing the tactical situation as updates from the other teams began to trickle in. The rhythm of the reports was a familiar beat, so often had they practiced it: everything was proceeding as planned. Saber One knew better than to expect it to continue indefinitely, but he relished every moment that it did. Under his helmet his lips curled into a sneer: arrogant and complacent, their target was ripe for the picking.

Moments later the team arrived at the transceiver cluster that they were heading for and briefly separated, circling it in two directions and pausing briefly to attach compact electronics packages to its base before reuniting above it.

Fifty metres farther on, a secure access hatch was recessed into the smooth metal of the hull. Saber Two drew a slim omnitool from a hip pouch and went to work.

It took her less than a minute. The hatch slid open and the three of them slipped into the darkness beyond.

* * *

"Quistis!" 

The voice shattered a pleasant dream of bubble baths and champagne, replacing it with a whirl of flying paper and a cool, hard tabletop. Her steel-rimmed glasses clattered across the table as she jerked upright, blinking, dazed and disoriented. A strange sound was ringing in her ears, one it took her some moments to place.

When she finally succeeded her expression shifted from confusion to exasperation.

"Yeah, very funny, Xu," she growled, amusement in her expression belying her irritated tone. Her friend's response came out haltingly, punctuated by peals of laughter she was evidently having difficulty containing.

"Sorry, Quisty, but you just looked so adorable snoring away like a little golden baby.." the older woman broke off with another burst of laughter, this one culminating in a fit of gasping breaths that had Quistis mildly concerned her friend might just die laughing. Not, she thought wryly, that Xu hadn't brought such a fate on herself.

Eventually Xu quietened, regaining her composure with visible effort. She took one look at Quistis – now fumbling about trying to find her glasses – and collapsed into laughter again.

"I'm really not sure it's _that_ funny," Quistis muttered grumpily, knocking a stack of test papers off her desk to join others scattered about the floor. Where were her damn _glasses_?

The laughter quieted again and the dark, vaguely Xu-shaped blob loomed closer. Quistis frowned, squinting and was wondering what her friend was up to now when the world came abruptly back into focus as Xu slipped her glasses back on.

"Ah, sorry, Quisty," Xu repeated, though she neither sounded nor looked very remorseful. She paused for a moment, looking suspiciously as though she were marshaling another outburst, wiping tears from her eyes.

Quistis snorted, stooping to gather the papers she had knocked off her desk. "Yes, well I'm glad one of us is having fun," Her tone softened, "…haven't heard you laugh like that for a while." In truth, she thought, there had been precious little laughter about the Garden for some time. Straightening the papers as she rose, she turned to look at her old friend. Xu met her gaze with one that suggested she knew just what Quistis was thinking.

Her words bore that out. "There hasn't been all that much to laugh at. Well, except for Sleeping Beauty of Balamb, of course." She snapped her fingers, feigning vexation, "Blast. Wish I'd had a camera."

"Right, that's it," Quistis finished gathering her papers, rolling her eyes at Xu as she did so, "I'm going to finish these in my-" she stopped abruptly, her gaze falling on the clock over the door. "_Please_ tell me you changed the time on that thing?"

"Yeah, I did," Xu replied, straight-faced, "Only, not really."

Quistis groaned in disbelief.

"I have _class_ in three hours!" she moaned, stumping out of the door towards the elevators.

"Yeah. Well, lucky you got some shut-eye," Xu quipped brightly, trotting to catch up.

"Leave me alone," Quistis growled, summoning her best instructor's voice to no avail. Xu kept pace with her, seeming to Quistis to somehow manage to do so as loudly as possible.

"What sort of friend would let a friend walk home in your condition?" she asked blithely, apparently addressing the world at large, "What if you fell asleep in the middle of a walkway? There could be an… _incident_." Xu gave the last word the royal treatment, stage-whispering loudly and wiggling her eyebrows dramatically. Quistis smiled in spite of herself, knowing this was a side of Xu very few people got to see.

"What the hell are you _on_ today, girl?" she asked, and then frowned as another thought struck her, "And why are _you_ up, anyway? Caffeine overdose?"

Xu sighed, her manner becoming that of an exasperated adult explaining a simple concept to a somewhat backward child, "If you paid more attention you'd notice I'm up at all odd hours these days. Comes with being Deputy Headmaster – you know, a real job." She paused, frowning, "Then again, maybe you _don't_ know. Y'know they do say, those who can, do, those who can't-"

"All _right_, all right, sorry I asked," Quistis sighed. While it was good to see Xu in high spirits and even in her current state it cheered her, she really needed to get some sleep. They had reached the elevators as they spoke, and she thumped the call button

Xu didn't respond, but Quistis could feel her smirking. "_What_? Come _on,_ Xu, if there's something you want to tell me then spill, or let me get to sleep for... well… fifteen minutes…"

"Really, Quisty, I don't know _what_ –" Xu began. Quistis rounded on her, one eyebrow quirked and a look in her eyes Xu knew better than to trifle with, "Whoa, whoa, okay. Cid wants to reinstate your license. I tried talking him out of it, but you know what he's like when he gets an idea in his head – like a dog with a damn bone…" she trailed off, grinning broadly and enjoying the expression on her friend's face.

A long moment's silence was broken by the elevator's arrival.

"You're kidding," Quistis finally managed. Xu frowned.

"You know, you could try to sound happier," she muttered, though her eyes were glittering. Quistis, shaking her head, walked into the elevator. "Anyway, Selphie's organizing the party-"

Quistis' head snapped up, her expression alarmed. "You – Selphie? But she-"

"Flying down today." Quistis closed her eyes and slumped against the side of the elevator as Xu paused, then added, "Kinneas too..."

Quistis was lightly banging the back of her head against the wall now, her eyes shut tight and her expression pained. Xu couldn't restrain a smile as she continued, "Selphie said she'd get a few people to help out – uh, Rinoa, Zell, your old team – she was on the line to the commander all afternoon, I don't think even _he_ could resist her for that long."

"No…" Quistis' eyes snapped open and she leaned forward, urgency in every line of her figure. "Xu, you've got to get me out of this!"

"Out of what?" Xu feigned confusion, "You don't want a party? It'll just be a small thing-"

"No no no, out of the whole thing! I don't _want_ to go back to Instructor full time, Xu!" Quistis' voice was almost a whisper, as though she were communicating some scandalous secret.

"Oh." Xu paused, "Right."

"I'm sorry, Xu,-"

"Well, uh, if that's how you feel I guess-"

"It is, look, I'm happy to help out - take up the slack when you guys need me, but-"

"Sure. Fair enough-"

"-I like being a regular SeeD."

"Okay. Well, um... you, uh, could have said something-"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!"

"Right."

Quistis looked so miserable Xu couldn't prolong her suffering any further.

"Mmm, didn't think you'd go for it," she said finally. Quistis looked up, hope sparking in her eyes, "That's what I told the headmaster."

"You did?" confusion clouded her bright blue eyes, gradually mingling with suspicion as Xu nodded, "And he went ahead anyway?"

"Well… no."

"No." The confusion was entirely gone now, along with the suspicion. What had taken their place could reasonably be described as calculated homicidal intent. "So all that about Selphie…"

"I _do_ hear she's doing well in Trabia," Xu commented, keeping a straight face with a Herculean effort, "Pity she doesn't get down here more".

"Right." Quistis grated, her own composure clearly at the very end of its tether, "Maybe she'll come back for your **_funeral_**!"

If Quistis hoped to cow Xu with that, she failed dramatically. Xu merely twinkled at her.

They remained like that for a moment before Quistis' resolve faltered and she snorted. Xu actually giggled in response, and within moments they were both helpless with laughter.

Quistis leaned back against the wall, letting the laughter wash through her. It felt wonderful to let it free, to give rein to simple joy even if it was only for a few moments. Shifting the papers in her arms she freed one hand to wipe tears from her eyes. As she did she glimpsed Xu doing the same, which perhaps inevitably set them both off again.

A few minutes and relapses later their laughter had faded to occasional shudders. Xu took a deep breath.

"Oh," she sighed, "Oh, Quisty. You must be _seriously_ tired to fall for that."

Quistis grinned, raising her eyes to the ceiling, and shook her head as Xu continued, "So I should tell Cid that's a big no, then?"

"Eh?" Quistis started, "I thought you were joking?"

"Yeah, well, everything after that part," Xu explained, "but Cid did make the suggestion. I told him I didn't think you'd go for it - so did Squall - but I'd check with you."

"Oh." Quistis thought it over, pleased by the offer. "No, you were right. It's nice to do it on occasion - this last week's been great – but I don't want to go back full time. You think he'll be okay with that?"

"He'll survive," Xu replied dryly, "Don't worry about it. One of the reasons he waited this long was that he didn't want to lose you from the active roster."

"I should thank him for the offer, though,"

"He'd like that," Xu's smile softened, "Congratulations, anyway, Quisty. You earned the choice."

Quistis smiled gratefully at her. After a moment's companionable silence she glanced up, frowning.

"Is this thing even moving?"

Xu pursed her lips, giving her the patient adult look again, "I'm not an expert, but… sometimes it helps if you push one of those buttons." Quistis looked at the untouched controls and groaned.

"You could have said something," she muttered.

"I _did_." Xu responded, all wounded righteousness. Quistis mock-glared at her as she stepped across the elevator-

-and something landed heavily on the roof. Quistis' head snapped up to the ceiling then across to Xu, who was unsnapping the flap of her holster. Quistis gave her a questioning look and Xu shrugged, frowning.

Before either of them could do more the roof hatch slid open and a black-clad figure dropped into the elevator. His head snapped around to face Quistis and the weapon in his grip followed suit.

Instinctively Quistis threw her armload of papers in the man's visored face. Undeterred by the momentary blindness he fired from the hip, his short burst barely over her head as she dropped to the floor. His second burst went into the ceiling as Quistis, pivoting on her hands, scissored his legs with her own and before he could recover from the fall Xu put two rounds through the temple of his high-tech combat helmet.

For a long moment the only sounds in the elevator were their harsh breathing and the soft fluttering of Quistis' papers settling to the floor. Their eyes met and the spell was broken; Xu's pistol swung up to cover the hatch as Quistis yanked the man's body towards her by the legs. Freeing the carbine – a sort of machine-pistol gunblade, she noted – she slung it at her side, jamming his spare clips into her belt. His pistol she passed to Xu along with the long dagger in his boot-sheath. After a moment's consideration she handed Xu the webbing belt with his grenades, counting them both lucky he hadn't dropped one to clear the elevator.

Xu nudged her with one boot as she finished, gesturing at the ceiling with her pistol. Following her signal Quistis was momentarily at a loss as to her friend's meaning, but after a moment understanding struck her in a chilling realization.

The ceiling was bleeding.

At least, blood was trickling from one of the holes their assailant had put there.

Neither woman moved for a heartbeat. Then Quistis rose silently to her feet, moving to try and get a look through the open hatch as Xu, pistol gripped in both hands, continued to cover it. Unable to make anything out Quistis signaled Xu her intent, slung the carbine across her back and with a light spring caught the edge of the hatch and swung herself up through it.

Another black-garbed corpse was slumped on the roof of the elevator car, this one the victim of pure bad luck. One of the first intruder's wild shots had taken her under the chin; she'd never have known what hit her. Quistis stripped her ammunition, passing the carbine down to Xu.

"Check her for comms gear," Xu's voice was an urgent hiss. Quistis nodded, pulling the woman's helmet free. A moment later she leaned back through the hatch.

"No go," she informed Xu, "It's wrecked."

"Yeah, this one too," Xu cursed softly, "Elevator comm's out too."

"Oh come _on_," Quistis groaned, "Don't tell me that got hit too."

Xu shook her head, grimacing.

"No, this one's not our fault. These guys," she kicked the man's body by way of explanation, "or friends of theirs, probably toasted the network."

"Right," murmured Quistis. Her mind raced, sorting through possibilities and options, "Okay. Let's try getting to the bridge." She reached down to help Xu up.

Xu glanced down at the body on the roof, dusting herself off absently. "Lucky," she muttered. Quistis nodded, but didn't reply. "Quisty, this gear-"

"Yeah," the younger woman sighed, "I know. All TC standards."

"So we're probably not talking about just a couple more guys."

"Nope," Quistis started climbing, her mind churning. Galbadian tech-commandos. If their intruders were what they appeared to be there was a world of trouble ahead.

* * *

Saber One repeated his directive to Dagger Team with no result. Inwardly, he cursed; they had given no indication of trouble, just routine updates followed by this damned silence. Perhaps it was a comms failure… he shook his head. The protocol was clear; he had determined it himself. Assume the unit to have failed and proceed accordingly. 

A quick check confirmed the other teams were still on target, or better. Rapier Team had just completed acquisition of Target Two and were standing by.

"Rapier One, Rapier Two, leave Three with the target and proceed to the bridge. Dagger Team is not responding. Investigate and eliminate any resistance. Move!"

Rapier One acknowledged the orders briefly. Saber One toyed with the idea of going to back them up himself, but dismissed it; his team still had other work to do, and Rapier could take care of themselves. He checked his chrono; they were still ahead of schedule, he noted. Plenty of time for success.


	2. Drawing the Noose

Author's Note:  Well, I actually updated. (I'm surprised, anyway).  My thanks to She'kspeare and Pierson, my first reviewers (ever) – amazing how much those things mean, isn't it? I never understood why people are so eager for them and I must confess I've been rather lax in the field myself – something I mean to rectify.  Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing! Ahem, anyway…

For those who are wondering: I don't own Final Fantasy 8.

_WHIRLWIND_

Chapter 2: _Drawing the Noose_

Quistis braced herself against the corner of the shaft, catching her breath as Xu pulled herself up to join her.  She nodded at the doors to the bridge.

"Any way to open that manually without giving the other side about a minute's notice?"

"No," Xu shook her head, "but there's that."  She indicated the ceiling of the shaft with a tilt of her head.  Quistis followed her gesture and spotted a narrow rectangular hatch offset to one side.

"And that is..?"

"Access point – inspection hatch for the bridge environment system.  There's a crawlspace that we can take to the bridge."

"Okay," Quistis shifted her load slightly, "Looks pretty narrow."

"Are you going to nitpick or get moving?"

Quistis gave Xu a dry look as she started up the ladder, shaking her head, "I can't do both?"

The accessway and the crawlspace to which it led were indeed narrow, but navigable. Five minutes later they were crouched in the accessway to the bridge.

Quistis unslung the carbine, sparing a moment to wish she had Save the Queen, or any of her whips.  Shrugging the thought off as wasted energy she checked the weapon, glancing at Xu to see her completing a similar procedure.  She raised a questioning eyebrow and Xu nodded.

Reaching down she laid firm hold of the release handle, pulled and twisted.  The heavy bolts securing the hatch slid back with a solid thump and she yanked the portal open and dropped through.

Hitting the deck and dashing clear she scanned the bridge area swiftly.  She heard Xu land softly behind her as her gaze swept over the forms of the bridge crew, slumped at their posts or on the floor.  A moment later Xu called "Clear."

"Clear," sighed Quistis, putting up the weapon.  She moved to the nearest body, pausing a moment to shake a strong impulse to cough.  An acrid tang in the air burned at her nostrils and throat, her eyes tearing up.

_Hell_.  "Xu-"

"Got it," Xu's voice was muffled; she was holding a handkerchief over her nose and mouth.  She moved swiftly to the emergency medical kit near the main doors, stepping around the body of one of the bridge officers who had perhaps had the same idea, and pulled it open.  Grabbing a handful of meds she applied one to the base of her own throat and tossed one to Quistis, who did the same.

The Remedy surged through her system, a wave of heat burning away the effects of the gas.  She felt a powerful urge to retch which subsided almost as soon as she was aware of it.  Both women coughed hard, clearing their throats.

"Thanks," Quistis rasped between coughs.  Xu waved it off.

"Lucky we only caught a whiff," she said a moment later, "That's strong stuff."

Quistis nodded wordlessly, moving to the body she had been headed for.  She had to admit, she wished she were junctioned; magic would be so very useful now, to say nothing of the other advantages.  Since the war had ended she had done so less and less, and now she almost never junctioned if not in the field.  Xu, she knew, did it even less.

Reaching the body she noticed with a pang of sorrow that it was Terris.  The young man had often irritated her with his devotion as a Trepie, but he had been unfailingly bright and completely sincere.  Another name for the Hall of the Fallen, another friend and student gone.  She felt her anger rising, marshaled it and funneled it into her determination; her duty was to stop those responsible and prevent further loss.

Either the gas hadn't been enough or the attackers were simply very thorough, she noted; Terris' throat had been cut.  Shaking her head she closed his staring eyes gently and stood, moving to the next.

By the time she met Xu at the base of the command pedestal it was clear the intruders had been very thorough indeed.

Atop the pedestal it was the same, the two pilots dead at their posts.  The control consoles seemed intact to Quistis, but she was no expert in this field; she looked to Xu.

Xu surveyed the consoles with a practiced eye.  One display in particular caught her attention and she leaned closer, tapping at the controls.

"Hm," She frowned and tapped at another panel.

Quistis waited for Xu to explain, knowing better than to hurry her at her work.  She worked for a moment longer, and then straightened. "I think we've got more company coming." She announced, "Two airborne contacts, _big ones.  Right at the edge of the grid, but they're there."_

Quistis nodded slowly, "So… these commandos come ahead to smooth the path for their pals."

"I guess," Xu drummed her fingers on the console, "They've left the controls intact, so they're probably not trying to destroy the Garden." She shrugged, "Hijack."

"That's crazy," Quistis protested, without conviction.  Xu's reasoning was sound, but still… the resources and bravado involved in an attempted hijacking of a mobile fortress full of elite mercenaries were considerable.  Though she had to admit, 'full' was an overstatement; dozens of Garden's best were out in the field nearly full time these days.

"If these guys _are_ Galbadian military they've certainly got the resources to do it," Xu argued reasonably, "and it's not as though unprovoked aggression is new to them."

Quistis could hardly dispute that, though she had been hoping that with the recent changes in government Galbadia might be heading down a more peaceful road.  Indeed, most of Garden's SeeDs were working for the new government putting out brushfires mostly blamed on President Deling's old guard, the self-styled 'Praetorians'.  Of course, all that meant right now was that the Garden was undermanned and vulnerable, which did cast a different light on things… she shook her head.

"We can worry about all that after we kick these bastards off our Garden." she said firmly, "Can you track the other intruders from here?"

"No," Xu shook her head.  "Damn… look at the chem sensors.  Airborne toxins in main ventilation, they must've knocked out the safeties.  Penzadrine-K, same stuff they used up here.  It's showing up in most sectors.  The bridge is isolated from the main system, guess that's why they came up here in person, but I'd say most of the Garden is going to sleep for a while.  Looks like… yeah.  The defense grid and main propulsion are out too."

"Could they have done all that from up here?"

Xu frowned pensively.

"It's possible," she said slowly, "but I don't think they did."  Noticing Quistis' quizzical look she continued, "NORG was behind the original design and as you can probably imagine he was a big fan of central control, so all the subsystems can be run from up here.  On the other hand though, he was also paranoid enough to put in all kinds of security checks and safeguards to assure he retained control," she smiled grimly, her expression clearly adding, _For__ all the good it did him. "which means the sort of things our intruders have done would take time. A lot of time, in this case.  I only left here twenty minutes ago," at this she paused, her dark eyes widening slightly as the implications of her words struck her.  At her side Quistis wordlessly clasped her hand, earning a grateful look.  "So, uh, no.  They haven't had time to do it from here.  There must be other teams doing the work."_

"Right," Quistis nodded, "One in the engine room, I suppose.  Armoury, hangar deck, life support… probably living quarters." She pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking hard, "What about communications?  Can you do anything from up here?"

Xu shook her head firmly.

"Dead.  The whole comms nexus is fried, or at least scrambled," she caught Quistis' involuntary grin and smiled herself, "Yeah, like an egg."  She shook her head in irritation, "It's always been vulnerable.  If they knew what they were doing they could have taken it out in ten seconds flat with the right gear.  I-"

She stopped in midsentence, staring at the console.  Quistis followed her gaze, but saw only a patchwork of lights and readouts that meant nothing to her.  "Wh-" her question was cut off as Xu shoved her roughly to the floor.  Taken by surprise she landed badly, her jaw jarring against the smooth metal.  It took her a moment to realize that Xu was firing.

She wasn't the only one, either.  From the floor below the snarl of automatic weapons fire answered her, bullets slicing through the air about her and spattering off the side of the pedestal.  Xu kept low, using the lip of the pedestal for cover as Quistis rose to a crouch.

The pistol clicked dry and Xu dropped to one knee, ejecting the spent clip.  Glancing at Quistis she held up two fingers.

"They'll put a grenade up here any second," she muttered, and Quistis nodded in agreement.  Even if they wanted the bridge intact the attackers could still try gas.  They had to move.  She ran her fingers across the grenades on her webbing and unclipped one, showing it to Xu.  The other woman understood immediately and scuttled crabwise to the far side of the podium.

Quistis yanked the pin and tossed the grenade over the lip, Xu doing the same on her side.  A rustle of movement told her the attackers had seen it and were taking cover.  Counting three she swung over the edge, hanging for an instant by the lip before dropping.

It was a fair drop, but she'd done worse.  An instant before she hit the floor she heard the grenade pop with a _whoosh_, and then she was rolling out of the impact.  A thick white cloud was billowing across the room, warm and clammy on her skin - hot smoke, intended to baffle infra-red and thermal sensors as well as the naked eye.  Keeping low she plunged into the smoke, gunblade at the ready.

Off to her left she heard gunfire – the distinctive _brrrraap_ of a machine pistol answered by the crack of Xu's pistol, all strangely muffled.  She hastened towards the sound.

She noticed the other figure a bare instant before piling into it and they went down in a jumble of limbs.  Quistis twisted clear and rolled into a crouch as her opponent did the same, both looking for their carbines; their eyes settled on one barely a metre to his side.  As he lunged for it she went for him, slamming a shoulder into his side just below his ribs and tumbling them both to the ground again as the breath rushed out of him.  Quick to recover, he was up on his knees when her boot smashed into his jaw, snapping his head back and pitching him back to the floor.  Stunned, he offered no effective resistance as she knelt by him, caught his head in an iron grip, and wrenched sharply.

A shadow moved in the smoke and Quistis tensed until it resolved itself into Xu's trim form, her concerned expression clearing as she saw Quistis was unharmed.  Her opponent's helmet in her hands, Quistis got to her feet.

"You know how these two got in?"

"Same way we did," Xu indicated the hatch. "Tripped the vermin sensors."

"Vermin sensors?" Quistis repeated, sure she had misheard her friend.

"Mmm.  Well, motion sensors. Part of the security system."

"Okay…so... why _vermin_ sensors?"

Xu smiled sadly, "The ones in the vents are always being tripped by skrats and kogars.  Drive the security teams _nuts_.  They usually ignore them now." She shook her head, looking at the results.  Quistis changed the subject.

"I think they've missed the ones from the elevator, sent these two to check up.  We need to get moving."  She hefted the helmet, studying the interior, and swore softly.  Xu nodded.

"Retinal scan _and_ neural link," she said, confirming Quistis' assessment, "They really don't want anybody listening in."

"_Damn_ it," Quistis hurled the helmet away, bouncing it off the back wall, "We're fighting _blind."_

"If it was easy, anybody could do it," Xu said softly.  She knelt by Quistis' opponent and handed her his spare ammunition. "Look… I think we're going to have to split up."

Quistis nodded silent agreement.  She hated the idea, but there was just too much ground to cover.

 "I'll head for environmental control," Xu continued, "If I can get the safeties back on line they should flush the gas _and pump a dose of Remedy through the system, get our people back on their feet."_

"I'll try getting to the living quarters," Quistis said quietly, "see if I can't get some backup."  Though she did not say so, the possibility that the intruders had followed up on their gas attack with the same ruthlessness they had exhibited on the bridge weighed heavy on her mind.  From Xu's expression she had been thinking along the same lines.  

Xu handed her a couple of Potions and the remaining Remedies. "The ones we took should work for a couple of hours.  You might want to stop by the infirmary - get some more… just in case.  Right?"

"Right," Quistis said heavily, understanding all too well.  She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the task at hand.

Warm arms enfolded her and her eyes snapped open, surprise fading swiftly to melancholy as she returned the embrace.

"Good luck," Xu whispered.  Quistis felt tears prickle in her eyes as she replied, simply, "You too."

A heartbeat later they separated, their professional faces back in place.  Quistis nodded briskly at her friend, confidence masking fearful premonition.

"Let's get on with it."

*

Saber One closed the comm line with a soft curse.  Rapiers One and Two had fallen silent as well now, leaving him four down and entirely in the dark as to what exactly was going on up on the bridge.  He could ill afford to throw more of his people away; they were now dangerously short-handed.

There was no choice now but to signal the Marauders, although he was a good ten minutes ahead of schedule.  It stuck in his craw; calling for backup would be an admission, if not of failure, then of the possibility of failure.  He pushed his pride aside - bitter experience had taught him just how costly it could be to let it dictate to him in situations like this – and sent the signal.  That done, he turned his attention back to the immediate problem.

He would go himself, he decided.  His team could finish off here in Environmental, and then back him up.  He felt a weight lift from his chest and smiled; he knew himself well enough to know that the prospect of action was a balm to him.

He briefed Two on his intent; she accepted his decision without demur, a good sign; she was not one to keep reservations to herself, even if it meant risking his ire.  It was a trait he approved of, one that had helped her earn her position.

Checking his equipment, he set out for the bridge at a steady jog.

*

Outside the protective walls of the Garden the storms were building, the sky a tumult of wind, rain and light stretching to the horizon in all directions.  Silent and patient in the midst of the chaos, the Barracuda-class air cruisers _Moray and _Pike_ edged through the low clouds, ironclad predators circling for the kill._

The _Moray's_ heavily armoured command centre was quiet, its silence broken only by the occasional tap of keys or the rustle of movement as her crew went about their business.

One such officer suddenly stiffened at his post and swiftly tapped a sequence of commands into his console.  Studying the response he turned to the man who stood in the centre of the room, his narrow face illuminated by the consoles which ringed his station.

"Sir, signal from Saber One: _Trident."_

Colonel Kyle Meridar nodded curtly at the younger man, his mind pacing through the implications.  Trident was both good news and bad, a report of success and a warning that the alarm had been raised.  The signal meant that immediate action was required, but at a risk.

Meridar quashed his doubts.  They had all come too far, and the stakes were too high, to back down now.  He turned to the two officers behind him – Aden Bretten, _Moray's_ captain, and Mazell Corley, his Strike Force Leader – who awaited his orders.

"Aden – full speed approach, boarding pattern."  Bretten nodded and he turned to Corley: "Major, prepare your troops for full assault, hot landing."

Corley saluted briskly and strode from the room, barking orders into her headset; as she left Meridar felt the cruiser bank in response to Bretten's crew.  He turned his attention to his displays, a frisson of anticipation running through him.  His eyes studied the readouts of the distant Garden as the range ticked down.

_You're mine_.

*************************


	3. Shadow Boxing

Author's Note:  Well damn, Part 3.  Thanks again to Those Who Review: She'kspeare, Pierson and Ripley, without whom I probably wouldn't have made it even this far.

In spite of my literary achievements (or perhaps because of them), I don't own Final Fantasy 8.  Well, I do own a second-hand copy – but you know what I mean.

_WHIRLWIND_

Chapter 3: _Shadow Boxing_

Their descent through the elevator shaft was decidedly smoother than the ascent, but it was marked by an uncomfortable silence that the earlier endeavour had lacked.  Their paths diverged at the main deck, Xu continuing to descend while Quistis headed for the main concourse.  Their farewells already made on the bridge, they did not speak at the moment of parting, communicating only with silent looks before turning to their own paths and destinies.

Quistis emerged from the elevator car in a rush, her eyes sweeping the broad expanse of the central concourse with her weapon following.  Apart from a figure in SeeD uniform slumped at the bottom of the stairs from the elevator she saw nobody.

Keeping low she slipped down the stairs to crouch by the motionless figure, feeling for a pulse with faint hope.  She was not surprised to find none.  Gently she rolled the fallen SeeD over; it was a young woman, one of last year's graduates.  She could not quite recall her name, which saddened her worst of all.

She shook the feeling off; her duty now was to the living, and there would be time for mourning later.  There always was.

Nevertheless, her pace when she moved off was perhaps a little quicker, fueled by a renewed apprehension and determination.

The main gateway to the infirmary did not respond to her approach.  Crouching below the level of the concourse barriers she drew out the toolkit she had taken from one of the commandos and went to work on the electronics, pausing occasionally to scan the concourse for movement.

*

Xu crouched uncomfortably in a narrow maintenance alcove ten metres above the floor of the elevator shaft, her narrowed eyes scanning the open doors below her.  Evidently some of their intruders had come down this way, which made sense; environmental control, main power and the engine rooms could be accessed through here.

She felt the urgency of her mission pressing upon her but still she remained motionless, eyes fixed on the rectangle of light below her, her mind focused on what she could see and hear.

Which was _nothing.  Nothing moved, no sound reached her ears save the background thrum of the Garden itself, long since screened out by her conscious mind.  There was nothing to suggest that there was anything untoward about the doorway._

And yet… and yet she could not bring herself to believe it.  Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps the simple logic that told her that if she were in her enemy's place, _she would not have left such an obvious choke point unguarded.  Perhaps it was both._

Whatever it was, she decided to trust it.  Turning away from the bright opening she reached up to pull the hatch above her open, straightening to look into the dark crawlway it revealed.   Sighing inwardly she pulled herself up into the crawlway, thankful for long hours spent learning the ins and outs of the maintenance network, not exactly required learning for a deputy commander - but she had always been thorough like that, meticulous about knowing what the people under her needed to know.  She didn't always like it - this aspect of her study had been particularly tedious – but preparation had always served her well in the past and it was serving her now.

Pulling out a slim torch she quickly scanned the path ahead before beginning the long crawl towards Environmental.

*

"All quiet, sir," Saber Three reported as One approached his position.  The young commando was crouched motionless in the corridor leading from the main elevator doors.  A pool of light illuminated the doorway, the rest of the corridor all the darker by contrast; he would be effectively invisible from the entry until he fired.  By then, of course, it would be too late.

Saber One acknowledged the report with a sharp nod, "I'm heading up to the bridge.  When Two's done you two follow me up."

"Sir." Three's confirmation was quiet, but firm.

"And stay alert," One added over his shoulder, heading for the doors.  He knew his people, knew that the reminder was unnecessary, but what was happening upstairs – whatever it was – had him uneasy.

He moved swiftly, warily into the elevator, his eyes scanning the darkness above through his infra-red visor.  Seeing nothing he slung his weapon and began to climb.

The faint heat-traces which marked the maintenance alcove three stories up were all but gone by the time he reached their level.  He did not notice them.

*

Quistis straightened as the gates hissed open, slipping her toolkit back into its pouch on her webbing belt.  It had taken longer than she had hoped; Xu was better at this sort of thing.  

Readying the gunblade she swung through the doorway.  The wide corridor beyond was empty and silent by for her own movement, which seemed loud in her ears.  Her vision blurred as her eyes began to water; even with the Remedy, she could _feel the gas in the air._

Using the heavy supports that lined the corridor for cover she edged down its darkened length, all senses on edge.  She could see that the infirmary doors were open, warm light spilling into the corridor, but could make out no movement within.

The only occupant was one of the night shift, a recent arrival from Trabia – Camus, or something like that.  Shifting so that she could watch the corridor Quistis applied one of her Remedies and breathed a little easier as he coughed and stirred.  She helped him to one of the chairs and sat him down.

"How do you feel?"

"Like _crap_," he said with feeling.  "Uh… it's Instructor Trepe, isn't it? What-"

"I don't have a lot of time, Doctor," she interrupted his question, not bothering to correct him, "we're under attack." She tossed him the used Remedy, "You have any more of those?"

"Uh… you're kidding," he muttered, glancing up at her.  What he saw in her eyes made him pale. "Um, over there, top shelves."

"Here?" She stepped over to the locker and pulled it open, sweeping the top shelf clean of Remedy sprays.  Both hands full, she paused, before turning back to him with a faint blush. "You have something I can carry these in?"

The doctor was still too rattled to note her embarrassment, hurrying to procure a small pouch from one of the other cabinets.  Quistis dumped the Remedies into it, filled the remaining space with Potions and slung it across her shoulder over her webbing, smiling wryly to herself.  _Who says I can't accessorize?_

"Right," she said, turning back to the doctor, "You'd better stay here, keep your head down."  Camus nodded; he seemed to have mastered his initial shock, she noted.  "See you later."

She turned and strode out the door.  A moment later he called out:

"Good luck!"

She looked back, her smile sincere. "Thanks."

*

Saber One knelt beside Rapier Two's body, his brow furrowed under his helmet.  Well, that accounted for his missing people.  Dagger Team dead in the elevator, the Rapiers up here.  They had a SeeD on the loose – almost certainly more than one.  He noted without much surprise that the bridge medical kit was open and empty.

He couldn't have missed them by much, he was certain of that.  A quick check of his chronometer eased his mind a little; the cruisers would be here in less than five minutes.  It was unlikely their rogue SeeDs would be able to achieve much before that happened. Still, his mind urged, no point taking chances.

"All teams, Saber One, Code Black.  Repeat, Code Black."  The signal would alert his teams that the alarm had been raised; perhaps an exaggeration, but it would keep them alert.

He looked over the scene on the bridge again, sorting through possibilities.  Where might they go next? Environmental seemed a good bet, but he had just come from there...

"Two, report."

"_Just about finished here, sir,_" his second replied, "_Placing mag charges now.__  We'll be with you in a couple of minutes."_

"Understood," he answered, continuing to think through the options. _The armoury_?  He dismissed the thought.  There couldn't be more than two or three of them; they'd be after reinforcements rather than weapons.  That left one obvious choice.

"I'm headed for the living quarters," he barked as he started towards the elevator, "Catch up to me there."

*

"Understood, sir."

Xu heard only half the exchange, but it was enough.  Mag charges would fry the environmental controls and make it impossible to undo the commandos' work.  She could see the other woman behind the waist-high control consoles; she appeared to be alone for the moment, but Xu had no doubt there were others nearby.

A quick glance at the grill covering the entrance confirmed what she had already known; there was no chance of opening it unnoticed.  _Oh well_, she thought, _sometimes you just have to jump in boots and all_.  Literally, in this case; bracing herself against the walls of the shaft she smashed the hatch open with a booted foot and came out hard and fast.

The commando was quick, no question; before the grill hit the ground she was moving, ducking behind the console for cover even as Xu came to her feet and tossed a flashbang over it.  She knew the commando, protected by her helmet's sensory screens, wouldn't be much affected by the weapon but it could give her a moment's distraction and that could be critical.  Perhaps more importantly, a flashbang wouldn't seriously damage the control consoles.

The grenade blew with a blinding flare and a thunderous _crack which rattled Xu's teeth even though she was shielded by the consoles.  Barely a second later she vaulted over the control bank and was greeted by a solid impact in the ribs which rocked her sideways.  The commando followed the punch with another, this one crashing into the side of the SeeD's jaw and snapping her head and whole body around._

Instinct and training turned setback into opportunity, using the twisting movement to whirl though a full circle and whip the barrel of her pistol across the commando's visored face with such force that it cracked the armoured plastic.  The woman staggered back against the consoles as Xu oriented herself and brought the pistol back to bear, focusing on steadying herself.  The commando surprised her by recovering first and knocking her pistol aside with a sweep of her arm, stepping in to deliver another punch to her midsection which Xu barely managed to twist aside from.  Inside the commando's reach now Xu snapped an elbow up into her throat, twice.  She felt the smartsuit's reflex cloth harden under the impact, turning a killing blow into a mere respite, and hooking her leg about the other woman's calf bore her backward to the ground.

Pinning the commando with one knee she brought the muzzle of her pistol down against the cracked faceplate and caught the flicker of movement reflected in its depths.  The pistol snapped up and around, firing almost before she made out the figure of the second commando.  She knew as she fired that she would not need a second shot.

Swinging the pistol down she saw the woman let something fall from her hand.  She looked at the small black cylinder blankly for an instant before recognition widened her eyes.

_Boom_.

*

"Marauder Two reports in position and standing by."

"On station and holding."

Meridar didn't acknowledge the reports; they told him nothing his own boards did not.  The icons representing _Moray and _Pike_ – for all their massive size, mere specks next to the Garden – were almost upon their huge target.  Bretten was standing by the two pilots, conferring with them about the difficulties of the approach in the building storm._

"_Marauder One, Hammer Leader.__ All units standing by."_

The colonel glanced down at the grainy image which accompanied the transmission. Corley's helmeted visage looked positively diabolic in the reflected light from her instruments.  He looked up at Bretten, who nodded affirmation, then back down at the Force Leader.

"You may proceed, Major."

"_Yes, sir!_"

Meridar felt the _Moray shudder slightly as the _Huscarl_ gunship dropped from its ventral bay, watching on his readouts as the heavily armed troop carrier angled towards the Garden below.  A second _Husky_ separated from __Pike, closing in on its target as the two cruisers began to follow them in._

"Advise Saber One," he instructed _Moray's communications officer, smiling grimly, "Armour is on the way."_

*

Quistis crouched in the shadows and stared at the open door, concentrating to ignore the fears that clamored in her mind, whispering terrible possibilities.  _Am I too late?_

_Only one way to find out, Trepe_, she admonished herself.  Checking the corridor was clear she dashed across the open ground and flattened herself against the wall by the doorway.  Pausing a moment to listen she swung into the darkened room beyond.

She found herself almost face to face with a commando; perhaps he had heard her approach and come to investigate.  For an instant they stared at each other.

Quistis was faster, or less surprised, or both.  Launching herself to the side she fired, her burst stitching a line high across his torso; at such close range his smart armour could not defeat the high-velocity rounds.  His own burst ripped through the space in her wake.

Hitting the ground she tucked into a roll, coming up into a crouch just short of the wall and swinging the gunblade towards his position in time to see him topple heavily backwards.  She covered him for a few seconds more, eyes alert for other movement in the room, before releasing the breath she had been holding and lowering the weapon.

As she did so she became aware of a dull numbness in her left side.  Her hand, tracing the sensation, found the sticky warmth of blood seeping through her uniform jacket.  She climbed to her feet, gritting her teeth against the bright flash of pain the movement provoked, and glared at the dead commando accusingly before realizing what she was doing and turning her attention to his handiwork.

Her fingers gingerly traced the wound.  It didn't feel bad – and she had plenty of experience with injury to use as a frame of reference – but she knew better than to make assumptions.  She drew a Potion from her pouch and applied it to the injury.

The medspray worked its usual wonders, banishing the pain with a surge of pleasant warmth.  The rush would probably be addictive if it weren't for the need for injury to experience it.  With a faint smile she recalled a similar discussion she had once had with Xu on the subject of Phoenix Down.

Thinking of Xu brought her attention back to her mission, which in turn brought her heart into her throat.  There was nobody in this room but her and the commando; gunblade at the ready, she moved towards the door to the bedroom.

A quick glance both quietened and renewed her fears.  Quietened, because the room's occupant was still alive; renewed, because her unconscious form was draped in unfamiliar technology - a gleaming silver helmet on her head, snaking conduits connecting it to both an armband of the same material and a small box which sat next to her head, lights winking in a meaningless pattern on its top.  Quistis stepped swiftly to the bedside and sat carefully next to her friend, clasping a cool hand in her own.

"Rinoa?" she leaned close to the unconscious woman and whispered urgently, "Rinoa?"

She fumbled for a Remedy, applying it delicately.  Seconds passed without any visible change save, perhaps, a slight shift in the young woman's breathing.  Quistis turned her gaze to the helmet, a bizarre-looking device now she looked closely at it_.  Something ran through her as she examined its polished exterior, a shiver of disturbing recognition._

Its purpose she could only guess at, though it seemed fairly clear that it was keeping her friend unconscious.  Clasping it carefully with both hands she eased it off, breathing a sigh of relief as it came free without mishap.

Unfastening the armband she shook Rinoa by the shoulders and this time she was rewarded by a groan and a slight twitch of the eyelids.  She lifted Rinoa into a sitting position and administered a Potion, daring to smile as her eyes flickered open.

"… Quishty?" Rinoa mumbled sleepily, "'Shup?"

"We've got to get moving, Rinny," Quistis explained, "We're under attack.  I… don't know if we can stop them."  She bustled around the room, grabbing Cardinal from the dresser before stumbling over something lying on the floor. "Wh – oh, Angelo," she knelt by the dozing dog and ruffled his fur.  "Come on, let's get you up."

Readying the Remedy she glanced across at Rinoa with a smile which vanished as soon as she took in what she was seeing; the young Galbadian had slumped forward like a rag doll, snoring softly.  Quistis sprang to her side, pulling her back upright, "_Rinoa_!"

Rinoa's eyes opened blearily, "Hey… Quisty… whash…" her eyes slid shut and her head lolled forward again.  _No!_ Quistis wanted to cry in frustration.  _What did they do to you?_

"Great," she muttered, slinging one of Rinoa's arms across her shoulders and rising from the bed. _We're going even if I have to carry you._

They moved unsteadily towards the door, Rinoa seeming to fade in and out of consciousness.  Reaching the front door Quistis took a quick glance to check the way was clear, then adjusted her grip on her friend and edged out.  

Outside the door she stopped in her tracks.  A jet-black figure strode into view at the far end of the corridor and stopped dead, staring at her.  

He made no move as she slowly lowered Rinoa to the ground, her eyes fixed on his silent form.  As she released her friend, her eyes flickering over her surroundings and her mind weighing her options, he spoke.

"You're up early, Instructor."

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. She _knew that voice… her surprise faded, a weary melancholy descending upon her as she rose to her feet._

_Seifer._

*************************


	4. Hammer and Anvil

Author's note:  My thanks again to my kind reviewers.  Well, so much for a chapter a week.  This one blew out on me, twice as long as planned and _still not as far along as intended.  This whole boarding action thing is really just a prologue, too…_

Apparently I _still_ don't own Final Fantasy 8.  I know, I know, I was surprised too…

_WHIRLWIND_

Chapter 4: _ Hammer and Anvil_

"Seifer." 

Quistis' voice sounded tired, even to her, but she stood straight and defiant as she faced him.

His eyes took in her visible bruises, the glistening bloodstain at her side, the weapons slung about her as he paced slowly, casually towards her, "Been busy?"

"Cleaning up your mess," she said bitterly, "Again."

He was perhaps five metres from her when she raised one hand to the grip of her gunblade.  Taking the hint or perhaps just humoring her, he stayed his advance, reaching up to pull his helmet off with his free hand.

He hadn't changed much.  A little older, a little leaner, perhaps, his golden hair darkened by sweat and plastered to his scalp, but the scar and the eyes and the smirk were just as they had always been.  

"Thought it might have been you," he said, almost conversationally, "You left your assignments in the elevator."

She didn't reply.  Her gaze searched his face, hoping to see there some clue as to what had gone wrong, what might have been done to prevent it coming to this.  He endured her silence, and her eyes, for only a few moments. "If you're looking for reasons, you're not going to find them there."  

"Well then perhaps you'd be kind enough to volunteer them," she spat angrily, fury burning the weariness from her spirit. "What are you doing here, Seifer? Chasing another romantic dream? – Did you always want to be a commando when you grew up?"

Seifer's smirk faded a little. "This has nothing to do with dreams." His expression became contemptuous.  "Believe me; I've learned the folly of chasing _those_.  This… this is simply business." 

As he spoke he drew the gunblade slung over his shoulder.  Not one of the machine-pistol models the other commandos carried, though it shared their matt-black finish, but a classic revolver design such as he had always favoured._  At least it's not Hyperion_, she thought; his signature weapon was locked in the armoury as it had been since it was taken from him at the end of the war.

"So."  Seifer hefted the weighty weapon effortlessly, rolling broad shoulders like a boxer warming up for a bout.  "Any other questions, Instructor?"

_We're past the time where the questions matter anyway_, she thought sadly, shaking her head.  It didn't really matter _why he was doing it; it only mattered __that he was._

"Good.  Now, as they say in the classics," he smiled grimly, raising the blade to point at her, "we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.  It's your choice."

Inwardly, Quistis sighed.  She had known that it would come to this, but still… he had been one of them, long ago.  Carefully, deliberately, she filed the sorrow away; it would not help her now.  That done, her mind paced through her options.  _No whip, no Guardian Forces, no backup, and one of the most powerful swordsmen in the world blocking my path.  She glanced at Rinoa with faint hope, but the young sorceress was still unconscious.  She looked back to Seifer._

_But there's nobody else.  Just remember which one of you was a SeeD at fifteen and which one never made that grade._

"It was _your _choice," she replied, resolve lending strength to her voice, "and you've clearly already made it." She quashed the fear still roiling within her and readied herself. "Let's get this over with." she concluded, the bravado strangely satisfying.

Bracing herself, she opened fire.

*

The gunship designated Piccolo-2 growled along the curving hull of the Garden, its spotlights playing across the immense domed structure as it sought out its landing site.

One pool of light washed across a narrow ventilation outlet, briefly illuminating a pale face within.  Xu winced back from the light, her eyes still sensitive from the flashbang which had gone off almost in her face.  

She had fired an instant after it blew, but the shock must have thrown off her aim; the commando most certainly hadn't been dead when she knifed Xu in the thigh and threw her off a moment later.  Wounded, blinded and deafened, she had no clear idea how she had managed to get out the door, firing wildly back to cover her escape.  Perhaps she had hit the woman; she had not been pursued.

She had not been so deaf that the distinctive detonation of the mag charges in Environmental had gone unnoticed, though.  _That failure hurt far more than the deep gash in her leg, still raw since she had managed to lose her Potions somewhere between the fight and her escape, along with her pistol.  She supposed she was lucky the blade hadn't nicked an artery._

She had managed to find her way into the environment system, where she had waited for her senses to recover enough that she wouldn't stumble into anything too obvious.  As she had waited she had gone through her options, deciding to head to the living quarters to hopefully link up with Quistis.  The sight of the gunship made her reevaluate her decision.  She had recognized it, even in the dark – an LT220 _Huscarl_, a vectored-thrust craft used by the Galbadian army's elite troops.  She had ridden in one on her last visit to Galbadia, touring SeeD deployments.

_Enemy reinforcements_.

It was heading for the hangar bay, she was sure.  Running through the Garden's schematics she mapped a path to its assumed destination; she couldn't beat it there, but perhaps she could make it in time to do some good.

Shifting her position to begin her journey she winced as pain lanced through her leg.  There was an aid kit in the hangar, too; she made a mental note to seek it out, though she doubted she'd need the reminder.

Gritting her teeth, she set out.

*

The gunblade clattered across the floor, sliding to a stop against one wall.  In the aftermath of its passage the corridor fell silent, the two black-clad figures motionless.

Quistis stared at the fallen weapon, then at Seifer.  _What is he **playing at?  **_

Nothing was as she had expected.  Striking swiftly he had dodged her opening burst and lunged at her in a ferocious charge that she had deftly turned aside.  He had struck again and again, shifting his attack pattern from the simple but powerful triple-eight to the intricate, unpredictable Archon's Helix, and she had blocked him high and low.  On their last pass he had given her a painful slash along her left arm an instant before she had double-wrapped his blade and sent it spinning from his grip to where it now lay.

It had been hard work, requiring all her focus, strength, and skill, and yet… it should have been _harder_.  Was he playing some kind of game?  If he was, she decided, the more fool him.  She'd take the chance it offered, and ram it down his throat.

Across the hall Seifer was struggling hard not to sound as though he was gasping for breath.  _No idea_, he thought angrily, _all the training and preparation and I had no **idea** just how weak I have become_.  He stared at Quistis who barely seemed to have broken a sweat, saw the confusion in her eyes in spite of her impassive front, and saw her gathering herself to renew the battle.  _She's going to work it out.  Whatever his opinion of the woman, he knew she was no fool.  _

His earcomm chirped and with a curse he pulled it loose; he couldn't afford any distractions now.  Blinking stinging sweat from his eyes he almost missed the sudden shift in stance which warned of her charge.   He barely sidestepped her rush, making a dive for his gunblade and rolling into a crouch against the wall with the weapon in hand.

She was right on him, her blade spearing towards his chest.  He turned the thrust with his own sword, grunting with the exertion – had she been so _strong the last time they had fought? – and pushing off the wall, drove her back with a fierce effort._

Pressing forward he hammered at her guard, driving her back with every blow.  He had to end this _quickly._

*

Piccolo-2 swooped out of the night, a vast steel bird of prey, its nose swinging up at the last moment as the roar of its turbines flared, slowing it enough that its landing was merely bone-jarring.

The _Huscarl_ was still rocking on its clawed landing feet when the long doors along its hull yawned open and the half-dozen armoured troops within vaulted to the ground, the hangar seeming to shudder again with the impacts of their landings.

The troopers were monstrous figures - squat, armoured ten-foot behemoths bristling with armament and weighing in at over five tonnes apiece.  Spreading out from the gunship they searched the cavernous bay for activity.

Captain Eric Shiro relaxed somewhat on receiving the last all-clear from his squad some minutes later.  While he had no doubts about his troops, this was the first operational deployment of their _Dragoon battle gears and that knowledge made him edgy.  _

None of his concern was reflected in his voice as he made his report.

"Hammer Leader, Anvil Leader, insertion successful, proceeding to objectives."

"_All received Anvil Leader,_"Maze's voice crackled in response, "_Good hunting._"_ After a moment, she added: "__Last one to Checkpoint Sigma buys the first round."_

"Understood, Hammer Leader." Shiro chuckled, grinning under his helmet as he switched to his squad channel, "Anvils, proceed as ordered."

"_Leader, Four, sir, you might want to see this_."

Shiro swung his Gear about and strode to where Anvil Four was waiting.  Sprawled at the Gear's feet was a young man in the black uniform of a SeeD.

"What's the problem, Four?"

There was a long silence before Four replied.

"_He's… uh, he's still alive, sir_."

It took Shiro a moment to process the statement and realize just why the SeeD's condition was a problem.  He sighed.

_Eliminate all hostile personnel encountered_ was the standing order for the mission.  He had no problem with it in principle; he was a soldier, had been one all his adult life, with more than a few friends to avenge and reason enough to hate SeeDs.  Standing over the unconscious figure there in the hangar, though, it seemed less cut and dried.

The boy would be dead in a few hours anyway, if matters went according to plan.  What difference would it make if he died now?

There _was_ a difference, he knew, even if it existed only in his mind.  It was a line he drew for himself, a line he would not cross.  

He was a soldier.  If pressed on the point, he would admit that he was a killer.

He would not be a murderer.

"Leave him." he said sharply, wheeling away.  Four complied with some relief, joining the rest in following Shiro as he strode from the hangar bay.

*

Xu watched as the last of the hulking figures left the hangar.  She could hardly believe what she had seen.

_Battle__ gears?  She had read several vague intelligence reports from sources in Galbadia on the development of the machines over the past years, but none had suggested they were anywhere near being ready for deployment.  Although Xu knew that intelligence gathering was a difficult, hit-and-miss business, she couldn't help but feel a little irritated right now that there hadn't been a __few more hits.  A warning about this little nocturnal visit would have been especially nice.  __If wishes were horses, we'd all ride, she thought wryly, and turned her attention back to the situation at hand._

There were two plasma charges on her webbing which might have a chance against their armour, but that was hardly going to be enough.  She could try the armoury, though it was sure to be guarded, but there were other things to attend to first.  

Shifting her position she peeked warily at the _Huscarl_, the growl of its turbines fading as they spun down.  She could see the figures of the pilot and weapons officer through their tinted armourplast bubbles, apparently busy with their instruments for the time being.  After a moment she turned her attention to the unconscious SeeD across the hangar.  His prone form was in full view of the two officers in the cockpit.

_Well, that decides that_, she mused.  Checking the magazine of her gunblade she began to make her way around to the _Huscarl's_ open bay doors. 

*

Seifer's arms were burning, his heart jackhammering in his chest and his legs heavy as lead, but he did not falter in his onslaught.  Quistis had halted her retreat, stubbornly refusing to give more ground, but she was still on the defensive; for all her determination, she was not a gunblade expert and could not match him blade to blade.  As their weapons clashed and locked yet again, Seifer growled ferally and hurled all of his strength into the lock.

A knee exploded into his midsection, almost winding him in spite of the highly vaunted reflex cloth softening the blow.  Twisting with the impact, his fist drove into her stomach before she could pull clear, but even as she rocked back she hammered the heel of one hand into his jaw hard enough to lift him off the ground and they stumbled apart, he staggering back against the wall as she fell back to one knee, breathing hard.

He _wasn't_ playing, she realized with a shock; he was giving it everything he had.  As she struggled with the thought her glance fell upon Rinoa's supine form, her mind on a conversation the two of them had had some months after the end of the War.  They had been talking about Squall really, but still… her eyes swung back to Seifer, her gaze speculative.

"One last chance, Seifer," she offered boldly, rising once again to her feet, "Surrender now and you _might live to see the sunrise."_

Seifer's habitual smirk became a sneer.  "Memory problems again, Instructor?  Perhaps you don't recall it took three of you to beat me last time?"

"I remember," Quistis replied softly, "but I don't think you're quite the man you were back then."

The silence which followed lasted barely a heartbeat before Seifer snorted derisively, and yet in that moment Quistis was certain that Rinoa had been right.  His hesitation had been fleeting - but it had been there. 

Seifer saw the realization strike her; saw it in her demeanour, the shift from desperate determination to sudden hope.  _She knows.  _Damn it_.  His grip tightened reflexively on his weapon.  **_Damn_**__ it._

Again he sprang at her, ebony gunblade scything through a lethal arc.

*

"_Marauder One, we've dropped the hammer.  All units proceeding to objectives."_

"All received, Hammer Leader."

Meridar listened to the exchange with satisfaction.  With Corley and Shiro's _Dragoons_ landed successfully it was all but over.  He turned to Bretten.

"Aden, bring us in and have the marines standing by to debark, and signal _Pike to commence boarding operations."  He checked the time, "I want us ready to wrap this within two hours."_

"Yes, sir."

*

_Nida__._  Nida!  Wake up, damn it!__

The young SeeD felt like he was rising out of the depths of a long slumber, his mind still sluggish as it tried to make sense of the words ringing in his ears.  Before it could do so, he was shaken like a leaf, startling him into full consciousness.

"Ow!  Hey! What's the big..." as his eyes adjusted to the light he was able to make out the figure kneeling over him, gripping his lapels "…uh, sorry, sir.  Um…"  She let him go and his head banged against the floor as his mind sorted through his memories trying to work out why the deputy commander might be shaking him awake.  The first few scenarios it came up with were as absurd as they were pleasant; when he realized he was in the hangar bay it added a new variable to the equations that bewildered him even more.  He remembered being down here familiarizing himself with the new hoverskiffs and… had he fallen asleep?  That was a much more plausible explanation than the earlier ones, he thought sadly.

Xu evidently wasn't in the mood to wait for his conclusions.  "_Snap out of it, Nida.  Are you hurt?" she checked him over mechanically as she asked; he didn't dare mention that the only thing that hurt was the back of his head.  "Okay, good.  C'mon, on your feet."_

Again, she didn't seem inclined to wait for him to comply; as she stood she dragged him to his feet by the front of his uniform jacket, roughly dusting him off as though he were an old carpet hung out to dry.  As she did so he noticed her condition with a shock.

"Are- are you – you're hurt!" he stammered, paling.  

Xu frowned, apparently irritated by his pointing out what was after all blazingly obvious.  After a moment, though, her expression softened a little.  

"I'll live.  Now listen: We've been attacked.  There are hostiles on board, and more on the way."  That was a guess, but an educated one; she was certain that the contacts she had picked up from the bridge had been much bigger than the _Huscarl_.  "We need to…" her voice trailed off as a new possibility struck her and she eyed him thoughtfully.  "…Nida..."

"Yes, sir?" Nida was certain he didn't like the gleam in her eye.

"Can you fly that thing?"

He followed the toss of her head, a little startled to see what she was indicating.  _Where did **that come from? he wondered, before realizing that Xu was waiting for an answer.  "You mean the LT220, sir?  Sure."**_

If the gleam in her eye had been unsettling, the broad smile that followed his reply was positively alarming.  It took a conscious effort on Nida's part not to flinch back from it.

"Excellent."

*

He was on the offensive, driving her backwards again, and yet Seifer couldn't shake the conviction that he wasn't in control of the battle.  He was nearing the end of his endurance, but his opponent seemed as strong as ever.  Stronger, perhaps, fueled by hope.  Whatever the case, he couldn't afford to let up on the pressure.  Shifting patterns yet again he willed his exhausted body to press the attack.

Quistis ducked one more powerful swing, coming up under his guard and, grabbing him by his webbing, pulled him with her as she threw herself backwards.  Planting one foot in his stomach as she rolled, she threw him bodily through the air to crash heavily to the ground several feet behind her.  He recovered swiftly, rolling to his feet, but she wasn't where he expected her to be; she had taken the momentary advantage to sprint across the corridor to another doorway.

Even as he gave chase he wondered what she was up to; surely the door led to another set of private quarters, a dead end unless she planned on jumping out the window…

She had barely entered the doorway when she whirled to face him, gripping her weapon halfway along the blade. He barely had time to register her intent before she hurled it at him spear-like with all of her considerable strength.  Acting on pure instinct he smashed the hurtling blade aside with his own, the force of the impact staggering him for a moment before he could recover.

Shaking his head he snapped around to face the doorway, ready to give chase, but Quistis was still there, stepping back into the corridor.  She was smiling, but there was no warmth in it; it was the expression of a long-starved predator scenting blood.

When his eyes lit upon the chainwhip coiled in her grip, he at last understood why he hadn't felt in control: he hadn't been.  She had let him shepherd her here, to her own quarters, where her own weapons were.

Still smiling she let the whip uncoil, raised one arm and mockingly beckoned him forth, unconsciously mirroring his own gesture to Squall in their duel so long ago.

And this time, when he charged, she met him eagerly.

*

"Saber One, Hammer Leader, please respond."

Corley repeated her request, to no avail.  _Tsking in irritation she switched channels._

"Saber Team, Hammer Leader, any available units respond."

There was a long silence.  Corley was on the verge of switching to yet another channel when Lieutenant Tanz' voice came through her headset.

"_Hammer Leader, this is Saber Two_."  Her voice was faint, and Corley was pretty sure the connection wasn't the reason.  "_Saber One is investigating enemy activity in the living quarters_."  There was a pause, then:  "_Saber Three is KIA_."

"All understood, Saber Two… do you require assistance?" Corley felt the need to ask, though she knew what the response would be.

"_Negative, Hammer Leader, I'll be fine.  Thanks for asking_."

_No problem_, Corley thought as she closed the channel, shaking her head.  She admired the tech-commandos for their skills and determination, but they really had to learn to ask for help when they needed it even if it was from grunts like her.  A glance at her squad status display showed the rest of the Hammers standing ready.

"Strader, Malik, come with me.  Farrar, we're going to the living quarters; you and the others stand guard here until Captain Shiro arrives.  Tell him where we've gone."

"_You got it, ma'am_."

"And remind him he's buying tonight."

*

The cruiser _Pike_ edged into position alongside the Garden, boarding ramp extended towards one of the exterior balconies.  Within its huge loading bay its marine contingent waited, a full company almost a hundred strong. 

In its command centre Captain Eram Tyce watched his pilots closely.  _Pike's_ mass made her almost immune to normal winds, but the storm was gusting at close to a hundred kilometers an hour and the docking maneuver was delicate even under ideal conditions.  Still, he noted with satisfaction, they were handling the task admirably.

"Captain?" The voice belonged to _Pike's chief radar officer.  Tyce crossed to her station, raising a questioning eyebrow.  "Sir, Piccolo-2 just launched.  It looks like it's coming back."_

"Really?"  The captain's brow furrowed as he took in her displays.  The gunships were supposed to remain on Garden to extract the Dragoons once the operation was over, but from what he could see she was right;  Piccolo-2 was inbound to _Pike's_ position.

He turned to Communications.  "Have we received anything from Piccolo-2?"

"Uh, no sir, not since they reported making the drop."

"Raise them for me." Tyce directed.  As the young officer bent to his task the captain turned his attention back to the status screens.

The radar officer jumped in her seat an instant before klaxons sounded across the bridge.

"Piccolo-2's targeting radar just went live!" she shouted, "They're painting us!  Sir, we-"

She got no farther.  The gunship fired full salvos from both of the huge rocket pods hanging from its weapons pylons, releasing a stream of almost two hundred high-explosive warheads in a breathtaking show of firepower.  The rockets crossed the two hundred-metre gap between the _Huscarl and __Pike in less than a second._

*

"_We're lit up—Piccolo-2--_" Meridar whirled at the scream; the voice was barely recognizable as _Pike's_ communications officer.  Before he could react the transmission ended in a garbled howl which almost made his ears bleed.

"What the _hell-_" his bellowed question halted abruptly as his gaze took in what his status boards were reporting.

_Pike_ was gone.

*

Xu restrained the urge to whoop and settled for a savage grin as the huge cruiser, its armoured hull holed in a score of places, began to slide towards the waves below.  Flames painted a blazing trail in its wake, brilliant against the night sky.

"They're on to us," Nida spoke from the pilot's seat behind her, "We should get clear."

"Probably," Xu agreed, cycling through the remaining weapons inventory, "Take us around.  I need a shot at that other cruiser."

Nida sighed to himself, swinging the _Huscarl_ into a tight turn, "Right."

As he did so Xu switched the gunship's radio to general broadcast.

"This is Balamb Garden to all stations," she began.

*

"-_we have been attacked by elements of the Galbadian military.  Garden has been boarded and is currently under Galbadian occupation.  We require urgent assistance. Our position is_-"

Meridar signaled the communications station to mute the transmission, and then wheeled on Bretten.  "Signal all units – Piccolo-2 now coded hostile," he barked, "Get Piccolo-1 back here _now! Activate CIDS, full defense mode, and _get us some altitude!_"_

Bretten snapped orders to the helm officers and _Moray_ began to pull away from the Garden – slowly, _so_ slowly.

Meridar watched the icons on his screens.  Hugging the Garden's flank, the rogue gunship was closing fast.

It was going to be close.

*

With a desperate effort Seifer twisted aside as Red Scorpion slashed past, a razor-edged serpent thirsting for blood.  Just as he thought he had evaded it Quistis gave her wrist one final twitch and the whip lashed about and ripped across his back, its honed edge parting the reflex cloth as though it were butter.

He did not cry out, though the pain was excruciating, nor did he fall.  Leaning heavily on the hilt of his gunblade he glared at his opponent, not bothering now to conceal his laboured breathing.  He was bleeding from a half-dozen gashes, his left arm mauled and almost useless.  _She's tearing me apart_.

She wasn't smiling any more, though, which surprised him a little.  He would have been, in her position.

Quistis watched Seifer gather himself, catching her breath.  Her anger, her hatred had faded as she had gained the upper hand, but it had not taken her resolve with it.  With a flick of the wrist she brought her whip back to pool at her feet.

She had lost too much time fighting him, she knew.

It was time – it was _past_ time - to finish it.

She raised her arm and the Scorpion sprang up like a living thing, a beautiful, deadly spiral whirling about her near-motionless figure.  Her eyes met his and her arm slashed forward and down, the whip's needle-sharp tip whispering through the air as it speared towards Seifer's heart with perfect, lethal precision.

With a final, desperate surge of strength and speed he twisted aside from the strike, driving forward with his gunblade gripped in both hands for a killing thrust at the centre of her body.  An incoherent roar burst from his lips as he summoned every scrap of strength he had left, funneling it through his bloodied arms into the black blade before him.

Impossibly she swayed aside as he lunged, his blade scoring a shallow slash along her ribcage as her leg ensnared his and her elbow slammed into the back of his neck, driving him heavily to the floor.

Seifer pulled himself to his knees, looking around wildly for his gunblade.  Just as his eyes fell on it a razor-edged necklace dropped around his throat and a knee was driven into the small of his back.  He gasped, fingers scrabbling at the deadly noose as it pulled his head back, his spine arching.  He could feel the links biting into his throat, blood streaming over his hands, and then a warm breath brushed his ear.

"You _should_ have surrendered," she whispered.  He closed his eyes.

With a swift movement she smashed the whip's heavy grip across the back of his skull, the blow more than enough to knock him out in his weakened state, and released its grip on his throat.  _No, Seifer.  Killing you would be a kindness, but I'd be doing it for the worst reasons.  You get to live, at least until you're tried and convicted_.

She remained kneeling by him for a few seconds, then straightened wearily and fumbled for a Potion.

She had barely stood up when the doors at the end of the corridor exploded with a thunderclap.  Shrapnel slashed past her as she stood momentarily dumbfounded by the blast.  _Now what? _

Huge, squat figures strode heavily into view through the smoke, their leader halting to look straight at her.  For a moment they stared at one another down the length of the corridor.

With a faint whirr, a long-barreled weapon folded down over the giant's shoulder.  Quistis' eyes widened and she hurled herself to the floor as something hissed past with a sharp _crack_, blowing a neat two-inch hole in the steel wall behind her.  Rolling out of her landing she made a dive for the still-open door to her quarters as the weapon fired again, taking a chunk out of her doorway.

Hauling herself to her feet she could hear their heavy tread pounding closer.  She eyed the window dubiously.  It overlooked the main concourse, but it was quite a drop.

For a moment she hesitated, remembering Rinoa and her other friends and comrades helpless before the attackers.  She couldn't help them if she were dead, she knew, but the thought of leaving them almost paralyzed her.

The steady march of the approaching gears was interrupted by a hollow _whump_.  Her mind categorized the sound instantly.  _Grenade launcher._

She was diving for the window when the fireball blossomed behind her.

*

Nida smiled thinly as the gunship thundered into view of the second Barracuda.  The warship was turning into a banking climb, almost side on to them.  Tracers began arcing from its flanks as a half dozen or more turrets acquired them and began firing, but it was clear that the massive vessel's main batteries were ill-suited to dealing with fast-moving targets at close quarters.

In front of him Xu ceased her transmission and switched to the targeting display.  She had one rocket pod remaining, nestled under the gunship's belly, and a full load of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.  Unfortunately her readouts showed this cruiser's CIDS close-in-defense system was fully active.  

Experimentally she fired an AAM at the huge vessel.  The missile had barely cleared the launch rail when three smaller turrets locked on to it, obliterating it in a hail of automatic fire.

"Their CIDS is up," she shouted, "Get us in closer." She switched control to the _Huscarl's_ chin turret and spun up its triple-barreled autocannon. "Time to clear a path."

*

"What are they doing?" Meridar watched Piccolo-2 skitter across _Moray's_ hull, weaving through the fire of the cruiser's heavy turrets.

Bretten's face was drawn and pale.  "They're knocking out the CIDS turrets in our starboard rear quarter… trying to create a blind spot."

Meridar blanched as he took in the implications.

"Can't the CIDS take them down?"

"No," Bretten said heavily, "The CIDS turrets can track them all right, but the _Husky's much too heavily armoured for them.  If one of the main batteries gets lucky they're dead, otherwise…" he shrugged._

Meridar nodded slowly.  "So we can only wait," he said finally.  Bretten nodded in silent assent.

*

"That should do it," Xu muttered, watching a fourth turret disintegrate under her cannon fire. "Let's take the shot."

Nida responded wordlessly, swinging the gunship through a wide circle to bring it to bear on the wounded Barracuda as Xu switched to the remaining rocket pod, her hand closing on the trigger.

Without warning a second _Huscarl roared into sight around the cruiser, tracers spraying from its chin turret as it sideslipped across their view.  Nida grimaced, wrenching the _Husky_ into a diving roll under the cruiser as the enemy gunship spat a pair of missiles from its weapons pylons._

Xu gritted her teeth and tried to focus as Nida threw the gunship through a series of sickening swerves, the missiles flashing past harmlessly.  Before they could catch their breath the _Huscarl_ shuddered under the impact of 20-millimeter shells from its sister craft.

Ignoring the damage alerts which lit up his HUD Nida launched into another series of desperate evasive maneuvers, watching in dismay as the enemy gunship hung close on his tail as though tied there.  The enemy pilot was _good, and much more familiar with his craft than the young SeeD.  Too close for missiles now, he was relying on his guns; tracers slashed past, spiraling from their pursuer in short bursts occasionally punctuated by a bone-jarring impact.  Nida clenched his jaw; they couldn't take _this_ for long._

"Jettison the weapons pods!" he hissed.  Xu gave a startled glance over her shoulder, but did not argue.

In pairs the weapons pods arrayed under the _Huscarl's_ pylons dropped free, tumbling away through the darkness.  None came close to their pursuer – _that was too much to hope for – but the loss of their weight and drag improved the gunship's performance dramatically.  Nida hauled on the control column, fishtailing the _Husky_ into a sliding hover which their heavier pursuer could not match._

The enemy gunship thundered past with only metres to spare as Nida slewed their vessel about, spinning it on its vertical axis to let Xu bring the autocannon to bear.  She wasted no time in doing so, the _Husky's frame trembling as she opened fire._

Terrible realization struck Nida an instant later; their maneuvers had brought them to a halt almost dead ahead of the cruiser.  Even as he tightened his hands on the column _Moray's_ salvo smashed into the gunship, almost cutting it in half.

*

"_Nice shooting,_ _Marauder One.__  Target destroyed."_

Piccolo-1's report prompted muted celebration in _Moray's command centre, the duty officers exchanging relieved smiles._

Meridar blew a harsh breath through his teeth, his hands unclenching at his sides; this could hardly be considered a victory.  _Pike's destruction was a body blow to the operation.  Though valuable the cruiser itself was not irreplaceable, but its experienced crew and troops were another story. _

Worse yet, if the distress call had reached the outside world the operation's time limit shortened dramatically.  Garden was barely fifty kilometers from the Galbadian coast; even if air traffic was grounded by the storms, a response could conceivably arrive within the hour.

"Did their transmission get through?" Meridar demanded of _Moray's_ communications chief.

"I can't be sure, sir" was the response.

"This jamming umbrella was supposed to be perfect."

 "Yes, sir - with Marauder Two backing us up it was pretty much impenetrable.  With her gone there's no way to be certain."

Meridar closed his eyes, breathing deeply.  There was no point in arguing the issue; the officer knew his business.  There was no option but to assume the call had gotten through.

"Are the target subjects secured?" he asked.  After a moment the comms officer nodded.

"Hammer Leader reports all three targets are secured and preparing to transfer to the extraction point."

_Not a total failure, then_. "Good.  Signal Hammer Leader and Saber One to pull all their people back to the hangar immediately and await pickup with the targets.  Instruct Piccolo-1 to make the pickups, however many runs it takes.  And get some skimmers out; see if there are any survivors."

As he considered further steps the officer turned back to him.

"Sir, Hammer Leader signals all received.  Saber Two has assumed temporary command of the TC teams.  She signals all received, but advises Scimitar and Falchion teams haven't finished placing the scuttling charges.  They estimate at least another half-hour."

Meridar shook his head.  Every minute might be critical. "They're to proceed to the hangar as instructed."

At least two thirds of the charges should be in position, he estimated.  Even if they didn't succeed in destroying the Garden, it would be decisively crippled and they would have their primary targets.

It wasn't a perfect result by any means, but he had learned long ago not to expect such things. 

***************

*Sigh* Cliffhangers are cheap, aren't they?


	5. Burning Bridges

_**WHIRLWIND**_

Chapter 5: _Burning Bridges

* * *

_

"What the _hell_-"

The explosion reverberated around the central concourse, taking Shiro and the troopers with him completely by surprise. It took the young officer several seconds to isolate the source of the disturbance, a second storey window belching smoke.

Splinters of glass were still spattering across the concourse when the shriek of Hammer Four's rotary chainguns filled the air. A moment later Anvils Two and Four also opened fire as Shiro tried to discern exactly what had set them off.

He glimpsed a flash of movement on the infra-red, and then it was gone through the main gates.

"Three, Four, report!"

"_Sir, hostile contact!__ She's headed for the entry plaza!_"

Shiro was grateful for the distraction, drawing his mind from the questions which had plagued his thoughts since hearing of _Pike's_ fate. The fear and anger he had allowed to fester while dwelling on the disaster he now turned on the new enemy.

"You two - Get after her! Five - single hostile headed for your position. I want her neutralized, **now**!"

* * *

"Anvil Leader from Hammer Leader, hostile contact headed your way!" 

"Thank_ you, Hammer Leader, I'm **well** aware of her_."

Corley cocked an eyebrow at Shiro's acerbic response – so unlike his normally professional manner - but chose to simply acknowledge his reply. She had other concerns for the moment.

"Tony?"

Corporal Tony Strader glanced up at her from beside Saber One's battered body.

"Pretty bad, Major. The injuries aren't the problem so much as the blood loss. We should get him back to the '_ray_ as soon as possible."

Corley nodded, though Strader couldn't see the gesture. "Right, we'll take him back with the prisoners. Put him on the stretcher and suit up."

Strader nodded and with some effort lifted Saber One onto the hoverpad alongside Rinoa Heartilly. The sorceress stirred drowsily at the movement, Corley eyeing the activity with some concern. She toyed with the idea of having Strader try to hook up the sleeper rig again, but decided against it: her people weren't trained in its use and from what she did know it was a delicate procedure to engage it without damaging the subject. She would just have to wait for Tanz.

"_Major_." Malik's voice cut across her thoughts, "_Saber Two_."

Corley looked up from the two bodies to see Lieutenant Tanz approaching_. Speak of the devil_… she bit back a startled gasp at the tech-commando's condition: the left side of her face was caked with dried blood from a gash along the side of her head which had narrowly missed her eye and taken a chunk out of her ear. Her skin was alarmingly pallid, all the more so against the black of her smartsuit and the dark fall of her hair.

Despite the injury Tanz' pale eyes were as clear and piercing as always. She nodded to Corley, moving to the stretcher and beginning to check over the sleep-rig as Strader clambered back into his battle armour.

Corley contained her reaction as the commando went about her business. When she finished the major spoke again:

"Escort them back, Lieutenant."

Tanz stiffened, clearly wanting to stay but years of training and military life denying her the option to refuse a direct order. "Sir, there's still a lot of work-"

The major steamrolled her protest, "It's not a suggestion, Lieutenant. Your other teams can do what needs doing, and that wound needs seeing to." Still the young lieutenant hesitated, and for a moment Corley thought she might put up a fight; after a few seconds, though, Tanz nodded curtly.

"Yes sir." she sounded faintly relieved, and Corley smiled to herself. _Human after all_.

"Good. See if you can call in one of your other teams to cover our flanks, I'd rather not have to move the prisoners through these corridors unsupported." Tanz nodded and Corley turned her attention to Hammers Two and Three.

"All right," she barked over the commline, "I want all approaches covered until our support gets here. This is what we came for so I don't care if _all_ your sorry asses get killed as long as we get the prisoners out of here! _Understood_?"

Though her troops knew her well enough not to take the threat to heart, they also knew she expected their best. They snapped to their task with alacrity.

"_Sir!__ Yes, sir!"

* * *

_

Quistis scrambled to her feet, the whine of the enemy's weapons ringing in her ears. _Close_, she thought; another second before reaching the cover of the passageway and the converging weapons fire from those mechanized behemoths would have ripped her apart. There was no time to consider her options; she could hear the heavy tread of at least one of the massive battlesuits from the concourse, probably giving chase.

She was slowing down, she knew; her wounds were starting to tell. As she ran she used another Potion, and while it stopped the worst of the bleeding the pain remained. She was hardly surprised; she'd been shot, stabbed, burned and bruised all within the past ten minutes and even the miraculous Potions had their limits.

_You've had worse_, she told herself. The thought, while true, was hardly comforting and she shoved it to the back of her mind along with the pain. There was no time to dwell on it now, anyway; the enemy was in pursuit and just ahead the passage opened out into the entrance plaza, the open area still brightly lit. She didn't like her chances of finding it empty, but there was nowhere else to go.

"Understood, Anvil Leader."

Sergeant Alex Merton closed the channel and hauled on the control sticks of his _Dragoon_, swinging the battle gear about towards the passage from the central concourse. On the far side of the entry plaza Anvil Six mirrored his action. Merton switched to his channel.

"Jace, switch to - _hell_! _Shoot_! _Shoot_!"

Hot smoke billowed from the passage, spreading swiftly as his finger closed on the trigger and he threw his gear into reverse, trying to open the range. The _Dragoon's_ chassis hummed as its twin chainguns screamed to life, raking across the cloud while Merton switched frantically through his vision modes trying to penetrate it, to no avail; none of his sensors were any use. He let the chainguns fire a moment longer then locked the ammunition feed, leaving the barrels spinning dry. "Shut'em down," he signaled Six, who ceased fire a second later.

"_Think we got her_?"

"Hell if _I_ know," Merton muttered, leaning forward in his harness as though he could somehow see more that way. A second later he jerked backwards as a figure burst from the cloud, coming straight at him. Even as he thumbed the chainguns back to life she dived to the floor, sliding clear under his field of vision. "_Shit_! You see her?"

"_Yeah, I've got her._"

Suddenly Merton's external visuals went blank and his HUD lit up with warning signals. _What the hell_? _What did she_- His confusion was transformed to terror when the calm voice of the gear's onboard computer spoke, its quiet drone somehow making the warning all the more terrible.

_"**Warning: Thermal surge on lower hull.**"_

_- Plasma charge!_ His mind connected the dots before the computer finished. As his hands pounded at the main clasp on his harness his thoughts tried to catch up with his instincts, his imagination picturing the tiny device clamped to the belly of his gear and burning its way through the armoured hull to fill the interior with superheated plasma. The harness snapped open and he fumbled for the emergency release lever on the roof hatch, finally getting a solid grip, pulling and twisting.

The computer was still repeating the warning as the hatch seal broke with a hiss and he punched it open with the heel of one hand. He was sure he could feel the heat even through his armoured bodysuit as he grabbed the lip of the hatch. He tried to pull himself up and found he could not, the half-dozen cables plugging his suit into the _Dragoon's_ control network restraining him. With a desperate effort he yanked them free, scrambling up through the hatch and half-leaping, half-falling clear.

As he scrabbled backwards he stared at his gear. Although the vast majority of its fury was directed against the gear's armour the energy leaking from the plasma charge against the lower hull was dazzling, casting striking shadows across the plaza. It was painful to look at, even through his helmet's photosensitive visor.

It was then that he realized that Six was still firing.

* * *

Quistis slammed up against a pillar, pressing her back to it and gasping for breath as the enemy's chainguns tore into the masonry from the other side. She knew she only had moments; those things obviously had plenty of options when it came to weaponry. 

_Of course so do I_, she thought as she assessed her remaining inventory. Two smokers, one plasma, four fragmentation, two flashbangs. Of course, most of her weapons would barely scratch the urban-camo paintwork of the hulking machine. _Smoke, then_.

As she dropped the grenade she almost missed the distinctive _whump_ of the battlegear's own grenade launcher over the wail of its chainguns. The canister bounced off the wall a couple of meters in front of her and clattered across the floor as her grenade began belching smoke. She could hardly afford to wait; pushing herself around the pillar she broke into a sprint, hoping the smoke would cover her as she bolted for the nearest passage.

The gear's grenade blew moments later, fragments slashing along her right side but the pillar shielding her from the worst of it as she dived into a tumble and piled into the wall of the passage, once again out of sight of the enemy. She took half a heartbeat to recover her breath before straightening and turning to press on.

She had taken two steps when three black figures burst around one corner of the T-junction ahead. The leader raised his gunblade as Quistis made a grab for her whip, but both froze as another canister skittered through the entry. Their eyes flickered from each other to the spinning cylinder and back, and both turned away and dashed for cover.

* * *

"_Anvil, watch your fire dammit! You nearly fragged our whole squad!_" 

Shiro listened to his comms system with disbelief. Between it and his audio pickups it sounded as though a war had broken out. Anvil Five had vanished from his squad display moments earlier and Six hadn't stopped firing since. Now it seemed that Stiletto Team had joined the fray and nobody was quite sure what was happening.

"_Leader, Six, requesting backup_."

_What do you **mean**, requesting backup?! **THERE'S ONLY ONE OF HER**!_ Shiro wanted to scream, but he mastered the impulse and cleared his throat before responding calmly, "Three and Four are en route, Six, what's Five's status?"

"_Bitch tagged him with a burner. I think he got out okay_," Six's anger was audible; the team had trained together for almost two years and were as close as family.

"_Anvil Leader, Hammer Leader, we're moving out. ETA your position, ninety seconds_."

Shiro swore inwardly. _It never rains but pours_.

"Understood, Hammer Leader, standing by." he signaled Corley, then switched back to his squad comm: "Get it _done_, Six, and watch your fire."

"_Yes sir_."

* * *

_This is getting ridiculous_, Quistis couldn't help thinking as she flattened herself behind a low wall to evade the latest barrage from the battle gear. Aware that the commandos were moving to flank her while the walking tank was pinning her down, she rolled onto her back and tossed a grenade in their general direction before scuttling away from them parallel to the wall. 

As she did so the gear's chainguns fell silent at last. Saving ammunition, she supposed; he had to be running low by now. He had stopped using grenades as well after the close call with the TCs in the corridor. Perhaps _now_-

In the sudden, deafening silence her ears picked up the heavy trudge of battle machines. At least three of them. She closed her eyes; _Out of options_.

Raised herself into a crouch, she judged the distance to the outer edge of the plaza. Pulling four slim grenades from her webbing she primed them and threw them in a wide arc towards the enemy as she rose and began to run.

The grenades started going off a second before the gears opened fire. The air about her was suddenly alive, the shimmering trails of railgun rounds and the bright slashes of tracers both beautiful and lethal. She vaulted another low wall as though running hurdles at Garden's year games, a trail of destruction in her wake.

Rain pelted her as she neared the edge, slashing out of the turbulent sky, and out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed movement as two of the commandos appeared around a column, their gunblades at the ready. Pure instinct guided Red Scorpion; it lashed about one's throat, jerking him off his feet and into the other as he fired point-blank; as they tumbled to the floor a bullet punched through her shoulder and another grazed her neck, flashes of fire turning her whole side numb.

Then the balustrade was before her and beyond it the turbulent seas and sky. To hesitate now would be to die; she took the balustrade in one stride and hurled herself into the night.

* * *

"_Hostile neutralized, Anvil Leader_," Six's voice crackled in Shiro's helmet, his triumph unmistakable. As Shiro replied the doors to the living quarters slid open and Corley's small procession began to emerge. 

_Finally_. "Good work, Six, can you confirm Five's status?"

"_Uh, yes sir, just a moment_."

"_Anvil Leader, Hammer Leader, let's get moving_."

"Just a moment, sir, I'm waiting on an update." Shiro replied. A few moments later Six came back on line.

"_Leader, Six. Looks like the burner didn't quite get through his gear's hull, made quite a dent though. I think Alex needs a change of underwear, but he's fine_. _He's hooking up again; we'll be there in a couple of minutes_."

Shiro nodded, relieved, and turned his gear to face Corley's.

"Just a couple of minutes, sir."

"_Understood, Anvil Leader._"

"Anvil Leader reports the remaining hostile has been neutralized."

Colonel Meridar nodded at Bretten's report. "What about extraction?"

"Hammer Leader reports our remaining people are en route for the extraction point and should arrive within five minutes."

"And the command tap is still operational?"

Bretten glanced down at his screens. "Yes sir."

"Our hostiles haven't destroyed it?" Meridar asked, a little testily.

"It's inside the control system, no external indicators. They wouldn't be aware of its presence."

_Lucky for us_. "All right. _Pike_?"

"We've picked up twenty three survivors. Mostly troopers who were in the loading bay, apparently. She… it looks like she went down too fast for most of the crew to get out."

Twenty-three survivors from a complement of almost a hundred and fifty. It took a conscious effort not to let his shoulders sag under the weight of the loss; such a display was a luxury a commanding officer did not have. "…I see. Let the search crews know I want them back on board immediately."

"Yes, sir."

After a moment Meridar glanced sharply at Bretten, who had still not moved.

"Is there something else?"

"The skiffs found Piccolo-2's ejection pod empty, sir."

Meridar rolled his eyes. "Of course they did." He took a deep breath, "It doesn't matter, we don't have time to track them down. Get our people back and wrap this up."

* * *

Nida hauled himself heavily out of the accessway, his three good limbs groaning with fatigue which he didn't bother vocalizing. The ladder had seemed to climb forever, but at least it was dry; Nida felt he had had enough of water to last him a lifetime. 

Xu was leaning against the wall of the small chamber, which looked to be some kind of substation for the intricate network of electronics that kept Garden functioning. Since she didn't seem to be in a hurry to move on Nida took the opportunity to sit down gingerly, crossing his good leg under him.

"Lucky you knew where to find that hatchway, sir," he remarked into the silence when it threatened to stretch too long. Xu smiled faintly.

"Good luck is the result of extensive preparation, Nida." she replied, quoting one of Quistis' favorite lectures. She glanced at him, "How's your leg?"

"Getting used to it, sir," Nida replied stoutly. Xu nodded, accepting the lie in the spirit it was given. _Perhaps one day_, she reflected, _we might look back and laugh at the irony of surviving all we have survived to be almost killed trying to get through a damn hatchway_. The sea had smashed them repeatedly against Garden's hull as they struggled to get in; Nida's leg was fractured and she had at least a couple of cracked ribs in addition to being cold, soaking wet and exhausted from their exertions.

_Still, we **are** lucky to be alive at all, preparation or not_, she reasoned. They must not squander their good fortune; they still had a lot of work ahead of them.

"I'm going to the central core," she decided aloud, "I can get a med kit for us there, scout out the situation. Sit tight."

Nida didn't argue, though a part of him wanted to; he wasn't happy with the thought of her taking all the risks. It was the best course, though, and rationally he knew it.

Satisfied with his silent assent Xu quickly checked over her remaining equipment before starting down one of the dark accessways.

* * *

Consciousness returned with an intoxicating rush of warmth. His eyes still closed he focused on his other senses, readily identifying the distinctive background roar as that of a _Huscarl_ in flight. 

_Not dead, then._

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?"

He recognized the voice as Saber Two's. As he did so the pleasant rush from the Phoenix Down faded and pain resurged from what seemed like every part of his body, the memory of recent events returning with it. The boarding, the infiltration…

_The duel_.

_That_ memory was painful enough to bring him to full consciousness, his eyes snapping wide open. Even the dim lighting of the interior of the troopship was enough to force him to wince and narrow his eyes almost immediately as they acclimatized.

"Sir?" Fingers snapped sharply in front of his eyes, drawing his attention to the pale face which hovered to his side.

"What-" at the grating rasp of his own voice he paused, clearing his throat harshly, "What happened to you?"

Tanz lifted a hand to the bandages which obscured half her face, prodding absently, "The deputy head."

"Xu?" Seifer grimaced, "You're lucky to be alive." Tanz' expression suggested she didn't _feel_ all that lucky, though she forbore saying it as he continued, "What about the operation?"

She grimaced, which disturbed him; she rarely allowed her emotions to surface. "The primary targets have been secured." Seifer relaxed somewhat at the news; for both the mission and for him personally the primaries had been the main concern and to have failed to secure them would have been grievous indeed. No matter what else had happened, he could now consider the mission a success.

_Which isn't to say I'm going to forget what happened_, _Instructor_, he thought before turning his attention back to Tanz' report.

Moments later Piccolo-1 docked to _Moray_ and began offloading.

* * *

"All personnel accounted for, Colonel, and our primary targets are secure aboard." Bretten reported. Meridar felt some of the weight lift from his shoulders as he turned to face his captain. 

"Thank you, Aden. Take us home." As Bretten turned to his task, Meridar swung to face Jerin Draymar, the electronics warfare specialist assigned to _Moray_ for this mission. "Lieutenant, do you have the command tap on line?"

"Yes, Colonel," the young man replied briskly. Tapping at his console, he brought the Garden up on his displays. "Accessing… I'm in. All navigational functions are available."

"Very good. Get it underway to way point Bravo and keep me posted on its progress."

"Aye, sir. ETA to Bravo is… two hours."

* * *

Her head bursting out of the heaving sea for the third time, Quistis gasped desperately for breath and got even parts air and water. Choking she went under again, dimly aware that she was running out of time. Numbness crept through her body, lethargy seeping in as her consciousness began to fade. 

Her will drove her on, clawing to the surface yet again despite the pain spearing through the numbness in her shoulder. She could make out the Garden - a dark, curving cliff studded with pinpricks of light. It seemed far away, impossibly far, as she struck towards it.

For a moment she thought that her mind was playing tricks on her; even as she struggled towards it, Garden seemed to recede. Drawing strength from her pain she redoubled her efforts, only to watch helplessly as the realization struck that it was not her imagination.

Gathering speed, Garden's vast bulk swung south, leaving her farther behind with every passing moment. _Wait_, she wanted to cry, but the roiling seas further churned by its passage closed over her.

_Wait_…

* * *


	6. The Widening Gyre

_**WHIRLWIND**_

Chapter 6: _The Widening Gyre

* * *

_

"We're moving?"

"Yes." Xu nodded as she clambered into the cramped service chamber. She tossed him the medkit she had retrieved during her excursion.

"So, you were right about the hijacking."

"Looks like it." Xu answered pensively. "I didn't see any activity; I suppose they're on the upper decks."

"That first cruiser never got to dock," Nida mused, "They might be short-handed." Applying a Potion he flexed his leg gingerly, testing its effect.

"Right," Xu smiled, "And therein, our opportunity. If we can rouse enough of our people we've still got a chance. We move quickly, keep our heads down, and we might still be able to show these bastards the door."

Nida nodded, grinning, "Now _that_ I look forward to."

* * *

"Boss?" 

Zell Dincht started into full wakefulness at the voice, bolting upright in his sleeping bag as he tried to discern the shadowy silhouette crouched by his side.

"Jake." He relaxed slightly on recognizing the burly figure, "What's up?"

"Creydon's back."

"Unh." Zell slumped back to the ground, raising an arm to examine the chrono it bore, "Aw man, I just got off watch like an hour ago." He lay there a moment longer before groaning, "You woke me up just to tell me that?"

Trilby chuckled, "No, boss, he says he found some kind of encampment. Protocol Boy wants to call home."

That news woke Zell up properly. "What? Why?"

"Wouldn't say," Trilby answered, his tone bemused, "Said he wasn't going to argue with me since he'd only end up having the same argument with you in the end anyway."

"Really?" Zell grinned in the darkness, "Guess we can't use _that_ trick any more."

"Guess not." Trilby straightened, his towering frame dwarfing the older SeeD.

"Too bad. All right, I'm on my way. Get Mikel up and let Caris know we're going to be moving out, one way or the other."

"Right, boss."

Zell shrugged on his anorak, bracing against the chill; the northern tip of the Dollet peninsula could match the brutal cold of Trabia's winters. As he crossed the small camp to where two figures awaited him, however, he braced himself for an entirely different kind of frost.

One of the pair snapped to attention at his approach while the other, moving only slightly, managed to convey considerable irritation while remaining little more than a patch of darker shadow in the gloom. He nodded to both of them.

"Hey, Crey, good ta see you. What've you got?"

Creydon Warnor shifted into an at-ease stance as he commenced his report, speaking briskly and formally. Zell knew better than to try and persuade him to actually relax; Warnor strove to maintain a determinedly professional demeanour at all times. "Sir. Early this afternoon I located what appeared to be a Galbadian military encampment of some magnitude eight kilometers north-north-east of this position. I was able to penetrate their sentry line and gain an estimate of their strength: the encampment holds roughly three hundred troops and a number of vehicles – four LT112s, fourteen MAT7s, two deployed K56s, and around a dozen trucks. They appear to have been in place for some time, sir; I'd estimate at least a month."

Zell whistled softly, feeling a certain anticipatory shiver run through him. _Three hundred troops - _a couple of mechanized infantry companies by the sound of it, deployed in defense of the K56 cruise missile carriers. The prospect of action beckoned enticingly.

"Nice work, Crey," he said, resisting the urge to clap the younger man on the back; Warnor wouldn't be comfortable with the familiarity. "Whaddaya think, Arty?" he asked, turning to the second figure – a tall, broad-shouldered man in Galbadian-style camo fatigues, his tousled dark hair the only sign that he, too, had only recently awakened.

Artan Velorian took a moment before answering, "I agree that Mr Warnor has done well, as always," he said quietly, "We should contact Station Ahearn as soon as possible, to verify the identity of this encampment."

_Pretty much as expected_, Zell thought.

"You know it'll take at least half a day to get to a clear transmission point," he pointed out reasonably, vaguely indicating the surrounding mountains. Velorian's face assumed its most obdurate aspect as he replied.

"From what Mr Warnor has reported the encampment appears to be long established, Mr Dincht," Zell fought down the irritation that his mode of address always roused; the Galbadian was intent on making it clear that the SeeD was not part of any military hierarchy that _he_ cared to recognize, "I don't think there is any risk involved in taking time to ascertain whether or not this is a legitimate installation."

"You're supposed to be our expert on these things," Zell sighed, "Shouldn't you _know_?"

Though he could not see it in the darkness, he sensed Velorian's eyes narrowing. "If we had remained in our designated patrol zone-"

"We'd be wasting our time, and you know it!" Zell cut him off. He had been on three of these rebel-hunting missions in the past six months, and this was far the biggest find of any of them. The first week of this outing had been so uneventful he felt he could have done it in his sleep, going over the same ground as the past two patrols he had run. "_You_ agreed with the decision, remember." _That_ had been a surprise; after he decided unilaterally to move the mission north of their assigned patrol region, he had expected Velorian to argue tooth and nail. He had been vaguely disappointed when the Galbadian did not.

That gave Velorian pause, some of the hostility fading from his demeanour, and he took a moment to collect himself. "That's not the point."

"And the point _is_?" Zell pursued. Velorian bristled, his response clipped and icy.

"The _point_, Mr Dincht, is that I'm not familiar with every outpost and waystation the army has, especially outside of the search zone. Under the circumstances I think we can take an extra day to confirm with command, and if you'd stop to think it over for once you'd agree."

_If I stop to_... Zell forced himself to think it over, overcoming the urge to react to Velorian's tone rather than his reason. He was aware of the rest of their party watching the exchange and steadied himself. _Remember_, he reminded himself_, you're the leader. You can't let your temper run the show._ He smiled inwardly; why did his better angels always sound like Quisty?

"It's not just about time," he replied, "There are... security issues as well." He didn't want to have to spell it out and Velorian's sharp intake of breath told him he didn't need to: they both knew the Galbadian military was riddled with Praetorian sympathizers. The silence grew long.

"If we contact Station Ahearn," Velorian said quietly, "I can deal directly with Captain Ryden. I can vouch for her integrity."

Zell looked at his shadowy silhouette for some moments, not quite willing to voice the thought that rang through his mind: _But who can vouch for yours_?

Ultimately, it seemed, he would have to take it on faith.

"Crey," he said finally, "Where's the nearest clear transmission point?"

"Kellin's Ridge," Warnor replied promptly, "Ten hours, give or take."

"All right then, Arty, we'll do it your way. Break camp, guys, we're on the hoof in ten minutes."

Without waiting for a response he turned and headed for his own bedroll, forcing himself to focus on the task ahead. As he started to pack mechanically his thoughts were interrupted by a voice at his side.

"Thought you two were going to start throwing punches there,"

Zell didn't turn to the speaker, "Don't you have packing to do?"

"Tossed Jake for it," Mikel Horn replied easily, his slender, dark-haired form dropping to his haunches beside Zell, "He lost."

"I'm astonished," Zell replied wryly. Normally he'd be happy to banter with the younger SeeD, but right now he wasn't in the mood. "Well since you're free, you can pack _my_ stuff."

The order left Horn speechless for almost a second. "You're... kidding."

Zell smiled, slapping him on the shoulder, "Just exercising my rank."

Horn stared at him a moment longer then bent to his new task with a sigh. As he did so Zell straightened, stretching, and turned to watch the others.

"It's not personal, is what I was going to say." Horn said behind him. Zell didn't answer; he knew Mikel would continue with or without his participation. "He doesn't like any of us."

"You think?" Zell muttered, drawn into the conversation in spite of himself.

"I asked around at Ahearn last leave," Horn continued, ignoring his team leader's comment, "Apparently Velorian was in one of the Black Flag teams dropped on Dollet. One of the supply sergeants said he was with the team that took out General Styers."

Zell turned at that, wondering if the young SeeD was having him on. It wasn't likely; Horn's studies had focused on intelligence gathering and analysis and he had excelled in them – largely, Zell suspected, because he was a natural gossip. Whatever the reason, Horn's information was usually very accurate.

If he _was_ right, it was telling. The elite tech-commando division codenamed Black Flag had spearheaded the Galbadian invasion of Dollet, its teams making surgical strikes against key defensive installations and personnel. None had had a more difficult or important objective than the team charged with the elimination of General Argus Styers in his fortified command bunker, the very heart of Dollet's strategic defense.

Moreover, the Black Flag teams had themselves suffered heavy losses during Balamb Garden's counterattack. If Velorian had been involved it meant that he was not only much more dangerous than his official title of 'Military Liaison' suggested – a conclusion Dincht had already reached on his own - but that he might well have strong reason to dislike SeeDs in general and Balamb's in particular. All of which, he couldn't help thinking, made Velorian a rather odd choice for his job.

"Terrific," Zell muttered, shaking his head, "I was happier _not_ knowing that, thanks." He turned his gaze back to where Velorian was finishing his own packing.

"Hey, he could have been wrong," Horn offered helpfully, but he was unable to sound convincing. He said no more and Zell remained silent, staring at Velorian's shadowy silhouette.

* * *

"One minute."

Xu spoke the words mechanically, barely aware that she had done so. Her mind was still struggling with the implications of the devastation they had discovered on the concourse and the painful awareness that her closest friend might well be dead. Only the hard core of her professionalism allowed her to rise above the turmoil in her heart and mind. It was the same part of her that snapped her thoughts away from their painful focus to the situation at hand.

She cast a quick glance at the two figures behind her. Josette Moller and Edric Rane were two of the dozen SeeDs they had managed to revive using the Remedies they had procured from the aid kits they had found in the past two hours. She would have liked more, of course, but Quistis had taken the entire stock of Remedies from Dr Camus and they had vanished with her.

_She might not be dead_, Xu reminded herself; they had not found her body, after all, but the sheer level of damage on the concourse made it hard to believe that she could have survived. Quisty had survived worse in the past, though, and that thought allowed her a flicker of hope.

It was a faint hope, but Xu supposed she should be grateful for even that. _What's more_, she reminded herself sternly, _you still have work to do_. She could mourn Quistis later, if it proved necessary. Taking another moment to regain her focus, she checked her chrono again.

"Ten seconds," she said softly, readying herself.

Ten seconds later a muffled explosion shook the deck and Xu was shouting, "_Go! Go! Go!_"

Team Two's explosives – salvaged from the nearly destroyed armoury – blew the elevator doors moments before Teams One and Three stormed out of the accessways, the fourth assault on the bridge in an eventful night. Moving swiftly and economically they spread out from their entry points, joined moments later by Team Two from the elevator shaft. Their eyes and weapons swept the bridge -

- finding nothing. Xu straightened from her crouch, her eyes sweeping every inch of the bridge – as though she might somehow have overlooked the enemy that had to be here.

After a moment longer she had to accept the fact that she had not.

"Okay..." Nida's voice broke the silence, "_Now_ I'm confused."

Xu had to agree, though she did not say so out loud. They had swept the lower and middle levels and found no intruders at all; though there were signs of combat – particularly in the upper living quarters – their attackers seemed to have vanished into thin air, Battle Gears and all. Even the bodies in the elevator – and here on the bridge, for that matter – were gone. She had thought it was just possible that the attackers had decided to fortify on the bridge, holding it and so keeping control of the Garden; but they were not here.

It made no _sense_ - and Xu liked things to make sense. _What were they doing? They attack the Garden. They knock out the communications. They gas the whole population. They abduct Edea, Rinoa and Squall_ - This was a guess, but the three were unaccounted for. _Then... they leave_.

Based on that assessment, surely, the abductions _had_ to have been the primary goals of the operation. Hit and run; a perfectly valid approach, militarily speaking.

But then why was Garden _moving_?

Xu didn't know, but she was certain she wouldn't like the answer. Given that there was nobody on the bridge, though, there were a few obvious possibilities as to _how_.

"Nida," she snapped, "Get up there and open up the control consoles."

* * *

"Sir?"

Draymar's voice snapped Meridar out of an uncharacteristic bout of introspection. Shaking his head he glanced on the computer screen before him, his half-finished report staring back at him. His lip curled in irritation, directed inward, as he tapped the comms switch.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, Garden should be passing way point Bravo in five minutes. Standing by to adjust course for way point Charlie."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Keep me posted." Meridar flicked the comms unit off and turned his attention back to the waiting report.

* * *

"Looks like you were right, sir," Nida's voice was muffled, his head and shoulders deep in the electronic innards of the command station. 

"What is it?"

Nida backed out of the console, grimacing as he clipped his head painfully on the edge of the inspection hatch. Xu showed no sign that she had noticed his mishap and he was happy to play along, ignoring the dulling pain as he straightened.

"It's a receiver," he reported, "tapped directly into our control systems."

Xu's eyes narrowed at his words. His report confirmed her suspicion – really, the only possible explanation.

"We're under remote control."

Nida nodded, frowning to himself, "Yeah... I guess so." His eyes flickered up to meet hers. "I don't get it."

_Nor do I_, thought Xu, though again she didn't voice the thought. "Can you disconnect it?"

Nida bit his lip. "I think so," he replied cautiously, "there's a pretty serious anti-tamper mechanism, though."

"_How_ serious?"

"Well..." he scratched his neck nervously, "_pretty_ serious." At Xu's irritated frown he hastened to continue, "It'd kill anyone on the pedestal, wreck the controls."

"So it's a bomb." Xu deciphered his explanation. _Why didn't you just say so_?

"Well, yeah." Nida looked at her oddly, as though that should have been obvious all along. "I'm pretty sure I can disarm it-"

"Not yet," her mind was working as she stepped to the console, her eyes taking in the few readouts still functioning. She noted with irritation – though not surprise – that the navigational controls were not among them. "Can you get a fix on our position without disturbing the tap?"

Nida nodded and dived back into the electronics. Xu raised her gaze to the windows, searching for anything that might reveal their location or heading, but she could see only darkness.

The floor shifted under her and she caught at the control console to steady herself. Glancing sharply down at Nida she dropped to a crouch and rapped her knuckles against the side of his knee. "What the hell did you just do?"

"Wasn't me, sir," Nida protested without budging from his position, "It's a course change..." he paused a moment, fiddling with the electronics, "Okaay... we're moving west-south-west between Galbadia and Centra, northeast of the Baran archipelago."

Xu processed the information as Nida slid out of the console.

"We could just ride it," he suggested, "See where it takes us and beat the _crap_ out of whoever's waiting."

It was an idea, Xu supposed, and the second part of it _was_ very appealing, but she dismissed it after a moment. Their enemy had proved themselves both efficient and capable, and she was certain that allowing them to keep the initiative would be a mistake.

"No," she murmured, "No. I want you to extrapolate our current heading and tell me how close we'll come to land. _Quickly_, Nida."

The young man nodded; the urgency in her tone was infectious. Without demur he went to work.

It took him less than a minute. "If we keep to our current speed and heading we'll pass within five miles of the northern tip of the Baran archipelago in about two and a quarter hours."

"Right," Xu murmured, "I want you ready to bypass that thing by then. The rest of you – split into pairs and make a sweep of the lower levels. Report _anything_ unusual."

* * *

"_Colonel_?"

The voice this time was not Draymar, but Janson, the communications officer. Meridar glanced at his watch: _Right on time_.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"_Colonel Meridar, sir, you asked to be advised when we would be in position for a secure transmission to the Citadel. We're in position now, sir_."

"Thank you, lieutenant. This will be a high security communication - I'll handle it from here."

"Yes, sir."

Meridar turned back to his console and entered his security authority, followed by the transmission protocols. After a moment his screen dissolved into static and then gradually cleared into a recognizable image.

"_Kyle, glad to hear from you. What's your status?_"

The speaker was a dignified man in his fifties, his tanned face weathered and lined, silvery hair and beard neatly trimmed. At his words Meridar unconsciously stiffened, squaring his shoulders.

"General, Marauder One is en route to the Citadel. We have all three primary targets aboard and Garden is currently maneuvering under our control. I must, however, report that our losses have been much heavier than expected; Marauder Two was lost with almost ninety percent casualties, and-"

The General raised a hand. "_I will wait on your formal report for those details, Kyle. For now the most critical issue is the status of the primary targets. You have them aboard Marauder One and properly secured, am I correct?_"

"Yes, sir."

The image smiled faintly. "_Then you can consider the mission a success, Kyle – don't lose sight of that. I know you take the losses to heart – and they are regrettable - but they have helped secure our future, and that of our country. Bear that in mind before you condemn yourself._"

Meridar bowed his head. "Yes, sir."

"_All right. Good. Now your ETA to the Citadel is what, fourteen or fifteen hours?_"

"Fourteen, yes, sir."

"_I'll expect your formal report then. In the meantime," the General's smile took on a wolfish cast, "I'll advise Caraway of our progress. I imagine he'll be very interested_."

Meridar returned the expression. "No doubt."

* * *

"Now?"

Xu shook her head silently, watching the restored navigational displays. Garden's tiny icon edged along the map, just north of a small archipelago on Centra's northwestern coast. _Just a little longer_...

The search parties had found no intruders, but they had uncovered something else: the intruders had set explosive charges throughout Garden's lower levels. From their size and distribution their purpose was clear – knock out Garden's propulsion systems and hole it badly enough to sink.

Her teams had disarmed four of the devices safely, but there were still half a dozen active – and she doubted they had yet found them all. She had no doubt their attackers would trigger those bombs once their command tap was disabled, as Nida now waited to do. There was no way to be certain that the resulting damage would not sink the Garden and so...

"Is everybody clear?"

Nida gave her a look back over his shoulder, nodding. "Yes ma'am. Moller's boat was the last one."

"Good." No point in risking more lives than absolutely necessary. The Garden was down to a skeleton crew, the non-essential survivors now at sea in everything from Garden's armoured landing craft to inflatable dinghies. Not a textbook evacuation by any means... but it would do.

Xu spared a glance for the young man crouched in front of her behind the makeshift blast shield they had rigged on the bridge. He was rigid with tension, his face a mask of concentration and streaked with sweat, hands white where they gripped the kill-switch.

Smiling to herself she placed a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he stiffened at the touch.

"Steady, Nida," she murmured, "have a little faith in yourself."

His answering smile was strained, but sincere. "Yes, ma'am."

Xu matched his smile, squeezing his shoulder firmly as her eyes narrowed.

"Now!" she snapped.

Nida threw the switch he had rigged, cringing instinctively - but once again his technical skills were proved up to the task and the tap's anti-tamper charges remained quiescent as the darkened piloting displays lit up. Xu sprang to the controls and entered the new course, and almost immediately Garden swung into a wide turn to the south. In the morning light the low bulk of the nearest island was clearly visible a scant few miles to the south, enticingly near yet far enough that a prompt response by the enemy might still catch them in deep water.

Xu watched the shore creep closer, agonizingly slowly, expecting the rumble of explosions at any moment.

* * *

Meridar was almost done with his preliminary report when the intercom crackled to life once more.

"_Colonel_!" Draymar's tone was urgent, almost panicked, a startling contrast to his usual calm demeanour. "_Colonel, Garden's just veered off course – it's no longer responding to commands!_"

Meridar nodded to himself, unsurprised. His voice when he replied was cool and level: "Then kindly sink it, Lieutenant."

"_Sir! Yes, sir!_"

* * *

Xu had almost come to believe that they were going to make it when the first charges went off. The detonations themselves were imperceptible, faint tremors lost in the rumble of the floating city's engines. Garden began to slowly list to starboard, but the list was barely noticeable to those on board.

Then there was sound – the deep groan of straining metal which reverberated through her body from foot to crown, rattling her teeth. The bridge began to tilt, the motion strangely leisurely, a disaster movie in slow-mo. Bulletproof glass shattered – a single pane, then the entire ceiling exploding, fragmenting, and with that sound the world suddenly went mad around her.

The floor pitched crazily beneath her as a cacophony of noise assailed her senses, the screams of twisting metal and splintering glass washing over the deep, sonorous roar of unimaginable destruction from deeper in the Garden's belly.

Then for a fleeting instant she was airborne, but the momentary freedom was cut short by a tremendous impact. Even over the shrieking death of the Garden she heard her bones snap, felt raw-edged steel spear through her, the jagged bursts of pain shockingly clear before the black numbness of oblivion swirled out of the depths of her dazed mind to claim her.

* * *

It's a good thing I'm over the whole 'cliffhanger every chapter' thing, isn't it? Sigh... 

The next chapter's almost done already (I cut this in half as it was getting too long) so it'll be less than a year before this is resolved.

Probably.

If the format seems a little odd, this is the first Word-format document I've uploaded (Previously I've used HTML format). Still working on it...


End file.
